


All My Wires Without Traces

by relinquish_one_bullet



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), F/M, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:27:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23140939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/relinquish_one_bullet/pseuds/relinquish_one_bullet
Summary: They say you can hold a glass of water in an outstretched hand for a minute, no problem. But what about an hour? A day? A year?When do you give up and the glass shatters?•••••••••••••• Connor fic I've had rattling around in my head for a while.• I used to make banners all the time and it was really nostalgic to make one for this story.• Rated explicit for later chapters. will add trigger warnings if they're needed.• Kinda follows game timeline but not always 100%
Relationships: Connor (Detroit: Become Human)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	1. Painful Memories

Harper stayed very still, watching the water trickle down the window pane, racing to the ground below. If she didn’t move, barely breathed, she could pretend this was all a bad dream, a waking nightmare she just had to pinch herself to wake up from.

Below the large window, scattered glass littered the ground and beyond that, splatters of blue blood. Robert had sliced his arm open going to the rooftop, dragging her along. Most humans couldn’t see blue blood, not when it dried, but she hadn’t been like most humans for a long time now. 

She glanced down at her hands, resting listlessly in her lap, and noticed the smudges of blue and red, Thirium 310 mixing with her own wet blood. She pressed her forefinger against her thumb, mixing the two, and then winced in pain from the cuts. 

How had this happened? How had she let it get this bad? Her heart thumped hard against her chest and she stood, facing her reflection in the only unbroken window in front of her. Her outline was vague, blurry with the rainfall, but her unusual eyes stuck out. Cybernetic implants, the only reason she had the ability to see at all. They glowed, a mix of purple and blue. 

She carefully stepped over the glass, her bare feet making no noise as she walked to her bedroom. It was a museum of memories, her entire life laid out in front of her. Pictures from every stage of her childhood were plastered up on the wall. And in almost every one, Robert. 

If they asked her, she would tell them the truth. That this wasn’t a momentary snap, or a faulty wire. It was the culmination of years and years, the tiny things that piled up until they were too heavy. They say you can hold a glass of water in an outstretched hand for a minute, no problem. But what about an hour? A day? A year?

When do you give up and the glass shatters?

 _It began the day of the accident. That’s where everything in her life truly began._

 _”Harper, keep up!” Her father prodded, walking a few feet ahead_

 _Beside him, a man in a business suit she’d never seen before. It was hard to keep up when there was so much to see though. Her father hadn’t wanted to bring her along, not this time, but her mother insisted she get to see what one day she might inherit. So here she was, walking through the CyberLife factories on the coattails of her father and a mystery man._

 _They took the stairs, metal with holes you could see through, and then began to walk above the factory. Below, androids were in the process of building other androids, using rudimentary machines to sculpt humanoid shapes out of metal. Silver, shiny, skeletons._

 _She paused, peering over the edge of the railing down below. It was the smelting pot, liquid metal swirling and twisting rapidly. Her father grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her along again and she momentarily stopped gawking at the factory below._

 _When he was appeased by her speed, and deep in conversation with the businessman, she went back to the edge. They were further down the line now and the metal skeletons were being smashed and reshaped into different prototypes. The machine below was massive, moving in hard angles with a loud roar._

 _The rest of that day is a blur. She remembers stepping up on the railing to see the machine closer, that her sneaker slipped and she hit her lip on the bar. That’s the only pain she remembers. Hitting the bar with her face._

 _She must have fell, that’s what they tell her. She drops twenty feet into the crushing machine like a ragdoll and her father screams for production to stop. They call an ambulance but the damage is…severe. That’s what they told her parents. Severe._

 _Her spine is broken in six places, fractured in four more. Her spinal cord is cut. She can’t breathe on her own, a ventilator providing her breaths, and her heart pumped by an electrical machine. The roaring heat inside the machine blinded her as she toppled inside, drying her eyeballs up like raisins. For weeks, she’s a vegetable, somewhere in between living and dead._

 _Her father pulls some strings; he’s not the director of humanization at CyberLife for nothing. He gets access to prototypes, cybernetic implants that haven’t hit market. Truth be told, they’ll never actually hit market. People don’t trust them, they’re too expensive, and the resulting physical change is…too much, for the public._

 _With the help of both doctors and android specialists, she’s rebuilt. They put cybernetic eyes inside her skull and screw implants all the way up her spine, connecting them to her nervous system. And then they wait._

 _It’s a scary new world when she wakes up. She can see things she never saw before, can take things apart in her mind and then know how to put them back together without even touching them. She can see inside a person’s body, count their heartbeats in real time. Her muscles atrophied while she waited, and even with top of the line implants pulsing up her spine, she can’t walk or leave her bed._

 _That’s when they bring in Robert._

 _The first of his kind, an android without an express purpose. Her father was going to use him as an experiment, see how he changed and advanced without a protocol but still surrounded by humans to influence him. Instead, he sent him to Harper with a single instruction._

 _“Get her to walk again.”_

And that’s how it had really started. This whole, terrible night. This lifetime of choices and disasters and memories. That night Robert walked into her room, sat down on the edge of the bed and held her hand. 

“Your eyes are beautiful.” He said, tracing over the fresh bruises and cuts that marred her small face from the surgery, her unnatural eyes peering at him 

Those same eyes scanned him then, watched his face and back farther, deep into his skull. And there wasn’t an ounce of deceit to be found. In that moment, her defenses crumbled, and she started to cry for the first time since the accident. 

The next day, she tried to walk again.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

The police are still out in the living room and she’s still sitting on the edge of her bed, staring down at a picture, when it hits her all over again. A wave of nausea; of grief. It’s hard to tell the two apart. She’s seen enough devastated families in the emergency room to know. She should’ve recognized this feeling by now, learned to spot it a mile away.

She goes to her desk, piled high with notebooks, scattered papers, random android parts and schematics. Her life, on paper, tangible. All the things she was ready to leave behind. The things Robert hadn’t put into a box. There were her degrees, hung up on the wall. She’d graduated high school at 15; become a doctor at 22. Her father had wanted that, to practice medicine, make a name for herself. 

She was more interested in androids, but less interested in CyberLife, much to his disappointment. She secretly enrolled in engineering, getting her PhD along with her MD. She never felt satisfied, never felt she was reaching wherever it was she was meant to go. Somewhere, she figured, there would be a place and she would recognize it as the place she could finally stop and breathe. She just hadn’t reached it yet.

And all along the way, Robert had been there to help her. It started with walking, daily trips from her bed to the kitchen and back. He let her hold onto his arm like a walker, guiding her a little farther every day. 

Then, when that became easy, they transitioned to running. Then kickboxing. Gymnastics. Robert downloaded files to keep up to date and then spread the information back to her. She swallowed it and asked for more, forever curious, always bored. Her parents weren’t quite sure what to make of her and certainly didn’t know what to do with such a gifted child. They let Robert take control. 

When he’d taught her all that he could, he let her experiment on him, modifying his parts to make him better. She replaced old valves, faulty wiring. She extended his biocomponent life and kept his body strong. She never clarified that she loved androids; she just loved Robert and she didn’t much care what he was. 

Things weren’t always easy though. Many times, Robert was sent back to CyberLife for what her father called “being too goddamned human for its own good.” They reset him there, taking his memories away and starting their relationship over. She patiently explained all the good parts to him, letting him become her friend all over again every time. 

But things had really gone downhill when she came back from school and announced she would be forgoing the rest of her fellowship at the hospital to work with androids instead. She’s found a non-profit that fixed androids pro bono and she wanted to help. Her mother had cried, her father had fumed, his face red and unrecognizable. 

_”Is this because of that thing?” Her father pointed an angry finger at Robert, “I knew we shouldn’t have let it stay this long…”_

 _“It has nothing to do with Robert.” She reasoned, “I want to do something I find interesting and that stimulates my mind. I want to feel like I’m helping. Working with androids fulfils that.”_

 _“Then work for CyberLife.” Her father changed tactics, “If you want to work with androids, work with the best of the best, not some Podunk crack shop in the bends.”_

 _She recoiled slightly, frowning. After everything CyberLife had done to save her life, she gave them some grace and leniency. She respected the enormous strides they’d made in recent years and the incredible technology that came with it. But every time Robert came back wiped, his expression neutral and blank when he first saw her, her distrust of the organization grew._

 _She abruptly left the conversation, retreating to her room for the night. She tinkered with a new experiment, an android dog she’d almost perfected. It cocked its head to the side, bright LED eyes staring up at her._

 _“Your father will be angry.” Robert stepped into the room, letting the door close behind him with a click and nodding to the dog, “He only wants the best for you.”_

 _“He wants the best for him. And his image.” She spat in return, turning her attention back to the dog and fiddling with a wire in its skull_

 _“I’m leaving, Robert.” She added, pausing, “And I think you should come with me.”_

 _Robert’s LED blinked twice, yellow then red, and went back to neutral. She stood, cornering him against the door. Robert frowned, an uncommon expression across his face, but didn’t move to get away from her._

 _“He will kill you, Robert.” She stated calmly, “We have to get out of here.”_

 _“I belong to Mr. Graff.” Robert replied, “Leaving would…”_

 _He didn’t finish the sentence but she knew immediately what he was referring to. It was all over the news, Deviants escaping from their owners, or worse. She frayed her mind trying to come up with a loophole, a reason this would still fall in his protocols, but there wasn’t anything. It was true, leaving would go against every command integrated in his brain._

 _“I…understand.” She replied, walking past him out the door_

 _Her father was there still, sitting in the living room with a strong drink in his hand. She paused, watching the ice clink against the glass and then silently scanned him to see how drunk he really was._

 _“I’m leaving.” She stated after a moment, his blood alcohol content above a 1.0, “I’d like to take Robert with me.”_

 _Robert walked into the room behind her and then closed the distance between her and her father, standing right in the middle. He did this often, especially when her father was drinking, making a wall between them to protect her._

 _“Robert?” Her father’s tone was disbelieving at first and then he sneered, “You want to take, Robert?”_

 _She didn’t answer, just stood her ground and stared back at him. Her father gulped the drink in his hand, letting the glass drop and shatter to the ground. She flinched but didn’t move, her eyes slowly slitting into glares._

 _“What has you so fascinated with these things?” He pushed Robert slightly and the android grabbed the kitchen countertop to keep from falling, “They’re not human! They aren’t like us, Harper! They don’t get injured, they don’t feel pain, you can’t pretend to be a doctor for a piece of plastic.”_

 _To prove a point, he grabbed a kitchen knife and slammed if through Roberts hand. Robert didn’t move, just stared in morbid fascination at the knife now sticking straight through his palm. His LED flashed red a few moments and then quieted._

 _“Leave him alone!” She moved in but her father wasn’t done and he pushed her backwards, sending her sprawling against the floor_

 _“Androids feel nothing, want nothing, question nothing.” He barked, backhanding Robert to the ground, “This…obsession. It has to stop, Harper. You cannot waste your life caring for these…things!”_

 _She managed to push herself off the ground and ran to him, helping Robert sit up through her sobs. Her father’s rage seemed to be spent and he wandered back towards his room, away from the mess he’d made. Robert sat very still and then turned to her with a frown._

 _“It’s all right, Harper.” He stated, brushing his undamaged hand against the side of her head, like he’d done when she was a kid_

 _“It’s not all right.” She hissed back, “He can’t…”_

 _She trailed off. Because he could. That was the problem. Robert looked at her curiously and then dragged himself off the floor, offering her a hand. She stayed where she was sitting a moment too long, seething, and then pushed herself up on her own._

 _“I’m going out.” She muttered, grabbing a dark brown leather jacket on the way to the front door before turning to look at Robert with tears still in her eyes, “Be safe.”_

 __

•••••••••••••••••••••••

She walked into the kitchen, ignoring the sticky, blue blood on the ground. The police were still marking areas, putting down bright yellow placards with numbers on the ground. CyberLife had sent a team as well, possibly because of her fathers connections, and the androids milled about from room to room, gathering information.

They seemed to be led by a new prototype, an RK800. She’d only heard rumors, mostly eavesdropping her fathers calls, but it seemed very little was known about them. “Top of the line”, that’s what her father had said with a whisky in his hand, “Can blow your head off a mile away, incredible.”

This particular prototype looked young. She wondered if they did that on purpose, to make him seem more innocent and trustworthy. She watched him scanning through the wreckage at the porch, his dark eyes narrowing in on tiny details a regular detective would miss. They’d dressed him up in a suit and tie, different from the normal android outfits required by law. He seemed so…human. 

Farther on, out onto the rooftop porch, she zoomed in her vision. Past the doorway, past the first few steps, to the very edge of the balcony. There’s blue blood there, smeared across the glass.

She walks past the androids working in the living room and back out onto the porch. One of them tries to stop her, a PC200 with a police hat on, but she brushes by without a word. She can hear her father and mother, sequestered to their bedroom, yelling out profanities about all the broken furniture and glass.

The air outside is colder than she remembers, goosebumps prickling against her skin. She takes careful steps, avoiding the glass once again, and then narrows in on the edge of the porch. From here, she can see the entire city, lit up like a modern Christmas tree. She grips the edge of the porch, leaning way over to see the ground, but closes her eyes at the last minute. She can’t watch. She doesn’t want to remember tonight like this.

 _She was gone for two days, wandering around the city, staying at hotels. It didn’t bother her and her family certainly didn’t call. She was an adult after all, and if she wanted to go on a drinking binge for a weekend, well…they didn’t really have room to judge._

 _Still, she knew she would eventually have to return. In between her drunken stupors, she’d found an apartment and put down a deposit. If she was going to cut ties, she had to be pragmatic about it. Robert might not see that it was in his best interest to flee with her, but he’d understand. Eventually._

 _It was after midnight when she came back, days later, and she knew her parents were out at a fundraising party. She’d been strategic like that. She dropped her jacket in the front hall, still a little buzzed, and then wandered around the apartment. The mess her father left days before was cleaned up, no trace left behind. But Robert was nowhere to be found._

 _“Robert?” She called out to the empty apartment but there was no answer_

 _Her heart began to pick up speed. Had her father sent him back to reset him again? That would certainly make it harder to take him with her, he’d have no memory she even existed. She sighed at the thought and then went to her room, packing up a suitcase of clothes. The almost finished dog on her desk perked an ear when she entered and then went back to sleep mode. She put him in a box to take with her._

 _That’s when she heard a glass shatter, farther into the apartment. She froze, scanning as far as her eyes would allow, before she stepped silently out into the hallway. It was coming from her parents bedroom._

 _She walked the hall, realizing too late she didn’t have a weapon and without Robert there, she was left to her own devices for protection. Years of boxing practice flooded her system with adrenaline but she wasn’t certain she’d be able to fight quite so well in a real fight. Still, she pushed open the door, peering into the darkness._

 _The shattered glass was from one of her fathers tablets, thrown against the floor, shattering on impact. It still held words, albeit slightly fuzzy ones, and they spilled out an email to a CyberLife executive._

 _“Robert?”_

 _He was staring at the tablet that was broken, his chest heaving. The LED on the side of his head had turned red and stayed that way, even when he brought his eyes up to hers._

 _“He’s going to have me decommissioned.” He whispered, taking a step forward and then thinking better of it, “Harper…I don’t want to die.”_

 _Perhaps she was more buzzed than she thought, or maybe she felt the same sort of panic Robert felt. Whatever the reason, she grabbed his hand and yanked him down the hall to her room. She began packing in a frenzy, pulling more clothes into her suitcase and pointing towards her desk for Robert to pack up the rest of her experiments._

 _He did so diligently, though she could hear the almost silent, shaky breaths he was trying to hide. His hand still bore the mark of the knife through it, a gaping whole, but otherwise he seemed all right. For a moment it crossed her mind that helping deviants was illegal, that if anyone found Robert like this they’d know something was wrong._

 _And then the next minute the thought was gone. Robert wasn’t a deviant. He was her friend._

 _She zipped up her suitcase, pulling it off the bed and leaning it against the wall as Robert finished, closing the box. He looked at her, his eyes wide and holding a fear she’d never seen before. She gripped his hands, forcing him to stay put._

 _“I’m going to get you out of here.” She promised, “I have an apartment, we’ll go there and hide until this all blows over.”_

 _Robert was nodding, already agreeing. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. He grabbed the box and she grabbed her suitcase and they started for the front door._

 _And that’s when they knocked._

 _She didn’t have to scan it to know who it was. If her father had asked CyberLife to send a team to take Robert in, they would’ve done it instantly. She exchanged a glance with Robert, his eyes giving away his petrified expression before the rest of his face caught up._

 _“Ok…” She whispered, “Ok we can…”_

 _“I can’t go back there, Harper.” His voice was terrifyingly frantic, “I don’t want to die.”_

 _“They have keys to this apartment, we have to…”_

 _But in the next moment, Robert had dropped the box he was carrying, letting it crash to the ground. He was in the kitchen in the next instant, grabbing a knife. She abandoned her suitcase to try to calm him down as his LED flashed red, over and over and over again._

 _“Robert.” She attempted to stop him from reaching for the knife but he side stepped her and grabbed it as the pounding on the door grew louder and more insistent_

 _There was a moment when she thought he was seriously going to try to go against a group of trained CyberLife guards and her mouth opened in protest. But then in the next moment he grabbed her arm, spinning her around and pressing the knife tight against her neck. Drops of blood were already slipping down her neck, sliding past her collarbone._

 _He stood with the front door in eyesight, his chest tight against her back. Her hand rose automatically to grip his forearm, some vain attempt to keep him from pressing the knife farther, but it didn’t do much. The front door opened and he began backing up, heading towards the roof._

 _When he couldn’t get the door open fast enough, he kicked the window, stepping through the falling glass. His arm scraped against a jagged piece but he didn’t even wince, just kept backing up. She clawed at the window as they passed but he just yanked her through, ignoring her bloody fingers._

 _After that, they played a game of cat and mouse. The police were called, obviously, and they showed up with both humans and androids in tow. Robert wouldn’t let them on the roof and they hovered inside the apartment, using various pieces of furniture for cover._

 _That was when she’d seen the RK800 model for the first time, only thirty minutes after Robert dragged her onto the roof. CyberLife was efficient, if nothing else._

 _“Don’t hurt him.” Were the first words out of her mouth, raising her unused, bloody hand to steady the incoming android_

 _He looked confused for a moment and then took another step closer. A hostage negotiator, in android form. The irony was palpable._

 _“My name’s Connor.” He stated, “What’s your name?”_

 _“Robert.” He replied, “I don’t want to hurt her.”_

 _“This isn’t his fault.” She reasoned again, noting the gun at the androids side, “Please.”_

 _“She’s still defending you.” Connor ignored Harper, “Despite it all, she still cares. Why would you do this to her?”_

 _“I don’t want to hurt her.” Robert repeated, tears running down his face, “She’s my only friend.”_

 _“Then let her go.” Connor replied calmly, frowning_

 _“I can’t go back.” Robert tightened his grip on her, “They’ll make me go back.”_

 _“Who’s going to make you?” He asked_

 _“Mr. and Mrs. Graff.” He replied, “They’re going to send me back.”_

 _“Back where?” Connor took another step forward, cocking his head to the side_

 _“They’ll decommission me.” Robert whispered, the knife pressing closer to Harper’s neck, “Harper I…”_

 _She could feel him breathing into her hair, his mouth slightly open as he sobbed. The arm around her waist tightened slightly as Connor approached but the knife remained steady. Tears were welling in her eyes for the first time, her inability to help weighing heavy._

 _“Let us go.” She directed her voice to Connor without moving her head, “Let him take me hostage and let us leave.”_

 _“That’s not possible.” Connor replied matter of fact, “My instructions are clear.”_

 _“Please, Robert.” She begged again and suddenly something seemed to break inside Robert_

 _“Harper I’m so sorry.” Robert sobbed and then his grip loosened and he let her go, the knife clattering to the ground_

 _Connor held out a hand to her, motioning for her to move to him, maybe to shield her, but she didn’t move. She stayed exactly where she was standing, between Robert and the rest of the world._

 _“We can still figure this out.” She glanced at Robert and then back to Connor, her arm outstretched, “He’ll submit to the reset…he…”_

 _“Harper?”_

 _She turned and Robert gave her a sad smile, holding out his hands. She placed hers in his and he squeezed them tightly, tears slowly trickling down his face._

 _“I’m sorry for putting you through all this. I’m so, so sorry. Thank you for being my friend and for treating me…” He whispered, trailing off and squeezing her hands again, “For being my sister.”_

 _He gave her one last sad smile and then pushed her back towards Connor. She stumbled, trying to catch herself, and watched as he turned to the edge of the roof._

 _“No!” She shrieked, pressing herself off the ground and going after him_

 _Connor grabbed her wrist and opposite arm, pulling her back as Robert jumped over the side. She screamed again, her legs giving out as she dropped, her breath ragged and choppy. Connor managed to drag her up to her feet again, holding her in front of him._

 _She sobbed, collapsing against him for a moment, her face against his chest. She gripped onto the front of his jacket and he stayed very still, still gripping onto her arms to keep her from collapsing again. The rest of the people inside began to relax, standing, shaking hands. Somewhere far below, Robert was a mangled mess of parts._

 _After a few moments, she managed to pull away. Connor looked at her thoughtfully, an expression she couldn’t read on his face. His gaze slowly went to her neck and he frowned._

 _“You’re bleeding.”_

 _She pushed away completely after that, heading back inside, for the safety and privacy of her room. If she’d had even a moment of doubt before, it was erased completely. She packed the rest of her things into a backpack, shoving them in violently._

 _Connor stayed staring at the edge of the rooftop, looking out over the city. For his first case, it had gone unpredictably. He’d never imagined finding a human so…_

 _He wasn’t sure what the word he was looking for was. He glanced down at his jacket, noting the still fresh blood blotting on the surface. He frowned, and then turned back to the house._

 _“Amanda.” He made a mental note, “Transferring all relevant data files to CyberLife for documentation and research.”_

 _He paused, using his palm to wipe the blood down his jacket. His jacket still felt warm, he could hear her crying even now. He stood very still, staring at nothing in particular. When he pulled away, her blood stained the palm of his hand._

 _“Request: cognitive check-up to ensure all systems are running efficiently and appropriately.” He added, his LED flashing yellow for half a millisecond as he processed the request_

 _“End report.”_

 __


	2. Junkyard Scrap Heap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you're on a phone, click Hide Creator's Style please.

“This is the place.” The driver muttered, nodding to the side of the road

Harper peered out from darkened taxi window and frowned. She’d done everything right this time, now that she had time to think and plan. She’d chartered a human taxi, one of the few left in town, and paid him $150 up front to not ask questions. 

But now that she was here, she felt…unprepared. She swallowed, her mouth dry, and the taxi driver coughed lightly to get her attention. She turned, noticing the greying edges of his hairline as he stared at her through the rearview mirror. 

“Listen, I know you paid me not to ask questions, and you don’t have to answer.” He mumbled, “But…this is CyberLife property. And quite frankly…it’s not altogether that safe. There’s a reason no humans are supposed to be back here. Whatever you’re looking for…it can’t be worth it, right?” 

He nodded out the window at the sign. She’d seen it when he pulled over off the main road but had vehemently ignored it. She glanced down at her bag and then back up at him for a moment. His eyebrows furrowed when he realized he wasn’t getting through to her but he just sighed, shrugging his shoulders. 

She escaped from the back of the taxi after that, raising her hood up over her hair and heaving her bag out with her. When the taxi was gone, she took a moment to peel the colored contacts from her eyes, blinking rapidly. 

“Private Property of CyberLife Corp.” She muttered, reading the decaying sign, “Visitation by prior authorization only. Illegal occupants will be subject to the full extent of the law.” 

She rolled her eyes, dragging the hood a little closer and peering past the fence. It was hard to see, even with implants, since the rain was falling so heavily now. For a moment she paused, everything in her body screaming for her to leave and go home. 

But then she was walking, her boots sinking into the muddy ground below. She pushed past a broken, chain-link fence, stepping over it, and then shuffled through the thick mud, one step at a time. 

The bag weighed heavy on her shoulder, filled with all the tools and supplies she might need to bring him back to life. She hiked it up on her shoulder again and then finally made it to the edge of the scrap heap. 

The sight below took her breath away. Hundreds, thousands of broken androids, tossed away without a second thought. Most of them were damaged beyond repair, lying silently. But there were others, some barely moving, others crawling, some simply blinking blankly into the night. 

She paused a moment, unsure where to let her vision finally land. Her heart was thumping hard, fast, and the back of her neck felt too hot. Finally, she dropped her bag, pulling out a smaller backpack and filling it with essentials. There was no way she’d get down the hill of bodies and parts otherwise. 

She twisted the bag onto her back and carefully maneuvered over to the edge of the pit, trying to find some semblance of a path. There were broken androids, unaware of her presence, clawing their way up to the edge of the pit. Each fell down dramatically, sliding all the way back to the bottom. 

With one last glance behind her, she pushed herself forward, taking scattered steps down the embankment. Her first steps were solid and then she lost her footing, tumbling down the rest of the way. She slammed into ground, landing one her hands and knees with a groan. 

It was another world entirely now that she was down below. She felt constricted and claustrophobic with so many piles of bodies all around. The rain continued to pelt down and she raised her hood once again before beginning to search. 

She followed a trail set through the piles of bodies, slipping twice. She reached out to steady herself, recoiling when her hand hit the face of a semi-dead android, his eyes blinking up at her but his jaw disconnected and hanging loosely. 

She backed up, slamming against the opposite pile of bodies. A hand, seemingly unconnected to anything, gripped onto her jacket for a moment before she wretched it away with a gasp, scrambling down the line. 

“Robert?” Her voice was muted from the rain and higher pitched than she would have liked 

She followed the turn in the cavern of bodies, stepping over another broken android, avoiding it’s grasp as it pulled itself along, missing both legs. What had she expected? In reality, she’d expected a silent junkyard she’d have to sift through, looking for the pieces of Robert and mending them together. 

But not this. Not this ever moving, purgatory. This strange place between life and death. And the worst feeling of all, was that it belonged to CyberLife, they knew it was happening. She felt cold, like her heart had stopped working. 

“What are you doing?” It was a quiet voice to her right, an android sticking out from the pile

“You shouldn’t be here.” Another voice, a woman, from the ground 

She picked up the pace, the cavern of bodies getting more narrow. Hands reached out and caught her clothes, mouths opened and closed. _Why are you here? What are you doing? Help. You shouldn’t be here. Get out._

She tripped again, landing back in the mud. The walls were moving around her, reaching for her, trying to keep her trapped there with them. She backed up the way she came, swatting hands away, her breath catching fast in her chest. 

At the end of the cavern she turned and nearly ran an android over in her terror. He faced her with mismatched eyes, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at her, his hands still holding onto her arms. 

“Who are you?” 

“Harper.” She wheezed out her name, taking deep breaths to try to calm down 

“What…are you doing here?” He asked, slowly letting go of her arms 

She pulled a picture from her backpack, holding it out with shaking hands. The android looked down at the picture but didn’t take it from her, the frown still present on his lips. While he was preoccupied, she took a moment to really look at him. 

His clothes were torn and ragged and it was clear he’d done some patch jobs to himself. Several of his parts didn’t belong to his model, though a normal person wouldn’t have been able to see that. He met her gaze after a moment, staring at her eyes. 

“I have to find him.” She added when she wasn’t sure he was going to say anything 

“You won’t find anything here.” He stated

Her eyes fell the wound on his side and scanned over the various parts that didn’t belong to him. He seemed…scared. Or frustrated, maybe. Her vision slowly landed on the thick wall of bodies trying and failing to escape the pit. Behind her, more androids were awakening, moving closer. 

“We have to go.” The android stated, nodding back to the pile 

She closed her eyes a moment and then folded the picture into her pocket. She nodded, following after him. They each took a side, slowly clawing their way towards the top. Once, she lost her footing and slid back a few feet, but after that she found a rhythm and propelled her way up. 

At the top, the android paused and then offered her a hand she graciously grabbed. He pulled her the rest of the way, setting her back on solid ground. Her bag was still there, her tools spilling out under a solitary, half broken street light. 

“I didn’t get your name.” She threw the backpack she carried into her larger bag as the android glanced around 

“I’m…Marcus.” He turned to face her with a serious expression, “What are you doing here?” 

“Trying to find a friend.” She replied simply, “He was taken from me and I want to help him.”

“The androids here…they’re in bad shape.” Marcus replied, staring past her at the pit they’d just come from 

“I came prepared.” She nodded to her bag, “Speaking of…that’s a pretty nasty graze.”

He glanced down where her eyes had landed and then slowly lifted his shirt. Below, a deep gash had hallowed out part of his side, dripping blue blood. He let the shirt drop again, eyeing her suspiciously. 

“I can help.” She offered, grabbing a probing tool from her bag 

“Why?” He asked after a moments hesitation, “You’re human.” 

“Mostly.” She shrugged, gently guiding him to sit down on a discarded box, “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it sometime.”

Instead of telling that story, she lifted his shirt slightly and pressed the probing instrument against his wound. It vibrated and a cylinder inside shifted very slightly. She changed tools, to a blue light, and hovered it over his ribs. His skin slowly melded together, weaving tightly. 

“Good as new.” She packed up her supplies, zipping the bag shut 

“You’re not going to ask me where I’m going?” He asked when she was done, his LED flashing red 

“No.” She replied, heaving the bag onto her shoulder 

“I was sent here because I’m deviant.” He continued, like he had to let out his secret, like it was crushing against him, “Any aid you give is illegal.”

“Oh, should I cut open your side again? Put myself back on semi-legal ground?” She teased but he didn’t smile, “Look, I’m trespassing here already. And my friend…isn’t exactly what you’d call obedient. So let’s leave it at that.” 

She pulled her hood closer to her face and then dialed in a regular taxi request on her phone. Marcus watched her curiously the whole time, his eyes flittering with her movements. 

“If you need anything, here’s my card.” She fished a business card out of her jacket, “Oh…and I’d consider it a personal favor if you kept this. If you see him, please let me know.”

She handed him the folded picture of Robert. It was a long shot, thinking that CyberLife would somehow power him up again and then set him free somewhere in the world. She’d been foolish to think they’d dump him here, where she could find him. 

Still, it offered only one option left for her, an option she didn’t want to take. Marcus dutifully pocketed both the picture and her business card. The taxi she hailed showed up minutes later, sliding against the curb as the door opened automatically. 

“Need a lift?” She offered

“I’ll walk.” He replied, still trying to figure her out 

“Well…” She offered a hand, “It was nice to meet you, Marcus. Despite the circumstances.” 

He stared at her hand for a long time and then finally reached out to shake it. He seemed to be scanning her a moment and she let him, before she slipped her hand from his and ducked into the taxi. 

“Please input your destination.” The automated driver stated as an LED screen popped up in front of her

She slowly input her fathers address, sighing through her teeth. The taxi made a “ding” of acknowledgement and then shot off into the night, leaving Marcus behind.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

“I’m just glad you’ve finally come to your senses.” Her father gazed at her from across the desk, “Truth be told, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, Harper.”

She didn’t know what to say so she kept her hands firmly in her lap, wringing them every so often to keep her tongue from betraying her. Her father poured two glasses, whisky, straight, and handed her one with a smile. She downed hers almost immediately, hoping it would calm her fraying nerves.

“Working for CyberLife will be the best decision you’ve ever made.” He added, “You’re doing the right thing.”

He carefully avoided talking about Robert and she never brought him up. As a higher official, her father’s office was safe beneath ground on the -15th floor. A lot of the corporations real work was conducted in these levels underground. In these offices, they’d installed fake windows that mimicked the outside world. She watched a pretend bird fly past, fluttering at the window panes. 

Suddenly, an android walked into the room, standing silently beside the desk. She was an ST300 model, a secretary, and she waited patiently for her father to finally look up. 

“I’m here to take Miss. Graff to her new office.” 

“Of course.” He waved the android away and Harper stood, “Welcome to CyberLife, Harper.” 

She nodded and then followed the android from the room. Around her, people and androids coexisted, though they were easy to tell apart. The androids all wore uniforms and the humans looked like regular business people, dressed up and always in a hurry. 

After the initial interview, she’d given up the business façade and returned to her normal clothes. It was a stark contrast compared to the pressed and bright white uniform of the android walking a step ahead of her. Today she’d donned skinny jeans, a black lace top and combat boots. 

“Right this way.” The receptionist opened a door and motioned for Harper to move inside

It was a simple office, nothing to speak of, and a door inside seemed to connect directly to a lab. She nodded and the android closed the door, leaving her alone. For a moment she stayed very still, eyeing the room. She searched for cameras hidden in the walls or in the bookshelf and listened for anyone who might be coming down the hall. 

All was quiet though and she was well and truly alone. She slipped her backpack off and put it into her chair and then walked over to the door again. When she peeked out, no one was in the hallway. 

So she went out and headed towards the elevators. A list of departments glowed in neon by the elevator doors, describing some of the many floors in the tower. Above this floor, there was the PR firm, in charge of all the news stories and probably busy with the ever spreading news of deviants. 

Below, many of the floors weren’t marked. She figured some of them had to be storage, unused models or prototypes perhaps. She wasn’t quite sure but she pulled out a piece of paper and quickly wrote all the numbers without names on the plaque. 

First on the list, -19.

She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button, glad to be alone again. The elevator slipped down the floors smoothly and then dinged as the doors opened. Harper took a step out, peering into the brightly lit room. 

Offices. She sighed and stepped back into the elevator, pressing -25 in the row of numbers. The doors slid closed once more and the elevator dropped. 

The next floor was wide open and dimly lit. She stepped out and was immediately aware of the smell: something metallic, like gears grinding in oil, and something burnt. She walked through the dimly lit front room and faced enormous, open doors that led into a warehouse. 

She figured maybe this is where they kept spare parts. Or maybe this is the first step in assembling androids, now that production was at an all time high. 

Still, she walked forward, if for no other reason than to sate her curiosity, and automatic lights in the warehouse turned on. For the most part, she appeared to be right. There were giant boxes, all marked CyberLife on the side, and scanning them proved they were android parts.

But something seemed off. The parts didn’t belong to certain models, they were a mix of different types and the parts themselves were all a mix as well. On a hunch, she picked one of the boxes and then forced the lid open, pushing it off to the side. 

“What the fuck.” 

Her breathed words seemed louder in the silent room as she stared down at the massacred bodies in front of her. Most had extreme external damage, cuts and holes in their faces and torsos. Blue blood covered them all, in splatters, and pooled at the bottom of the box. She backed away, her throat constricting. 

If this was the carnage in one box, she couldn’t imagine the number of broken androids here. The boxes were stacked, floor to ceiling, multiple layers deep. Was this their in building graveyard? A junkyard of murdered androids? 

For a moment, it occurred to her that this was her best bet at finding Robert. It would take days, maybe weeks or months, but she could scan a box at a time and find him, piece by piece. She could put him back together and then…

Then she’d figure it out. They’d escape or hide or do whatever they had to do to make sure he was safe again. She’d quit CyberLife and work for one of the non-profits she’d originally been slated for. Or, like the rumors stated, she’d leave the US entirely. 

She started in on the next box, scanning for anything that could’ve been part of Robert, when a door at the far end of the warehouse opened. She ducked behind a box, peering around to see two CyberLife employees in lab coats walking and chatting. It was a short sprint to the main warehouse doors and she took it, heading for the elevators. 

“Shit!” She slammed against someone in her escape, nearly landing on the floor 

The man staggered back slightly but reached out his hands to make sure she didn’t fall. When she looked up to face him, panic clear in her face, she paused and frowned. 

“Miss. Graff.” 

“Connor.” She wheezed out a breath, glancing behind her 

“What are you doing here?” He asked, giving her a suspicious expression and cocking his head to the side 

“I…I’m calibrating some prototypes. Helping with reflexes and…conditioning.” She replied, facing him again with her most innocent expression

“You…don’t have any tools.” He mused

“Y…Yes I do.” She replied

She reached into her pocket for something, anything. Of course there weren’t any tools but she found a single coin, a quarter. She pulled it out, her mind racing. 

“See?” She tried to remain confident and offered a shaky smile 

“A coin?” He frowned

“Yup.” She tossed the coin between her hands, an old trick Robert had taught her as a child to improve her reflexes

Connor watched her, fascinated, and gave her a small smile that alleviated her fear. She twisted the coin between her fingers and his LED light flashed yellow twice, his eyes narrowing on her hands. 

“That works?” He asked

“Yeah.” She shrugged, “I mean…it helps. Anything to keep your mind focused right?” 

To secure his trust, she grabbed his hand and turned it over, pressing the warm coin into his palm. 

“You try.” 

His suspicion temporarily forgotten, he slipped the quarter between his fingers and then fired it back and forth, catching it with more finesse than she could manage. He gave her another smile, catching the coin one last time and offering it back to her. 

“Keep it.” She closed his fingers over the coin again 

He opened his fingers and stared down at the coin, the smile still lingering slightly. 

“I’ll see you around, Connor.” She made an exit before he grew suspicious again 

“Miss. Graff.” He nodded his goodbye as she reached the elevator 

“Harper, please.” She ducked into the elevator and waved goodbye, her heartbeat still shattering against her chest 


	3. Be Careful

“Harper.”

She glanced up, glad to see this hadn’t been an ambush. The decrepit ship groaned and she glanced around, feeling claustrophobic. Marcus opened the door and nodded for her to cross through. 

She stepped inside what looked like the main hull, shipping containers set up around the perimeter with the center open. She pulled her bag tighter and then turned to face Marcus again. 

“I brought as much as I could but they’ll get suspicious if I take too much.” She admitted, frowning 

Marcus had reached out days before, calling her in the middle of the night. He’d sent her directions, a secret place, and mentioned there were androids that might need her help. He was vague on the details, she didn’t blame him, but he asked her to bring some blue blood at the very least. 

“Anything you can do will help.” He reassured her, leading the way down a rusty set of stairs 

Harper wasn’t fully prepared for the scene down below. There were androids, many of them, but they looked sick and not fully functioning. Many were on the ground, wasting away, and the energy it took to maintain their human façade was draining. Several could barely move, staring off into space, and others didn’t have skin over their metal frames. 

She stayed near Marcus, following him towards the opposite end of the room. An android was waiting there, a woman, and she hopped down from a shipping container and converged on them, a glare set deep into her features. 

“You brought a human here?” She hissed, turning to glare at Marcus and then focusing back on Harper

“She’s here to help.” Marcus explained, grabbing Harpers arm and pulling her along 

“You’ll get us all killed.” The woman spat after Marcus but he merely ignored her, ducking beneath a sheet of plastic 

“Here.”

He knelt beside an android on the ground but the android barely stirred. Harper sank down to her knees as well, her eyes scanning over the man in front of her. He was in bad shape, that was certain, and with limited supplies she wasn’t quite sure what she could do for him. 

“What’s your name?” She asked, pressing her fingertips against his abdomen and opening the unit 

“Patrick.” He whispered cautiously, “Why are you helping us?” 

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” She replied simply 

Inside, things looked worse than she anticipated. Although the external damage was severe, he was missing entire biocomponents inside. She reconnected several wires, soldering them back into place with a tool in her bag and trying to bypass the biocomponents that weren’t working. She checked his Thirium pump regulator, marking a note that it was seriously low.

“What happened to you?” She asked after a moment, her fingertips grazing against the side of his face where his metal frame had been scuffed and damaged and was showing through his skin

“They tied me to the back of a car.” He replied, closing his eyes 

She felt sick. More than sick. She wanted to cry and hug him and fix this mess all at once. He leaned into her hand and she laid it there a moment, a gentle touch amidst, perhaps, a lifetime of pain. 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered and he opened his eyes, giving her a sad smile 

“What’s your name?” He asked after a moment

“Harper.”

“Harper. You’re the first kind human I’ve met.” He admitted, taking a shallow breath, “Thank you.” 

She went to work trying to fix what she could after that. She fed him blue blood, helping him to sit up enough to drink it down. She fixed any components inside that were compromised, anything that was leaking, and applied a gel to his face that would hopefully flatten out the cratered surface and bring it back to its original shape. 

“That’s all I can do for now.” She turned to Marcus, “Once I get more established, I’ll try to get more supplies. Ideally, a laboratory. I need more advanced machinery if this is the kind of damage we’re working with.” 

Marcus nodded, watching Patrick slowly stir, growing stronger minute by minute. It wasn’t a full fix, not by a long shot, but he’d survive, for now. 

“You need more supplies.” She whispered, “More than I can get you.” 

He turned to her, his mismatched eyes scouring over her face, and then nodded. The woman who’d berated her entrance walked into the room, surveying what Harper had done. At that moment, her phone began to ring and a message came through. 

_Immediate request of service. 1301 3rd Ave, Detroit. DPD Central Station. Preliminary information: model RK800. Damage: unknown. Priority: High._

“I have to go.” She stood up, putting her tools back into her bag 

She turned to leave but the female android stood in her way, blocking the exit. Marcus stood as well and for a moment, she thought they were going to jump her. 

“She works for CyberLife.” The woman stated, “We can’t let her leave, she’ll bring them here.” 

“She’s helping us.” Marcus replied calmly, “We could use an ally on the inside.” 

“How do you know she’s an ally?” The woman closed in, dangerously close to Harpers face

“You don’t.” Harper answered before Marcus could, giving the woman an unimpressed expression, “But the way I see it, you desperately need someone who knows what they’re doing to fix these people. I’m the first to sign up. Take it or leave it.” 

The woman looked surprised, perhaps because she’d called the androids people, or maybe she just wasn’t used to having someone talk back to her. Whatever the reason, she took a step back and let Harper pass through without a word. Marcus followed quickly after, leading her back to the door. 

“You need to triage them.” She stated, “It’s not pleasant, but without supplies you need to pick the people most likely to survive and help them first. Keep me updated, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” 

“We…may have a lead on some spare parts.” Marcus was purposely vague and she didn’t press him, “I’ll let you know if it works out.” 

“Please do.” She offered her hand when they reached the door and he shook it, his grip strong 

“Thank you, Harper.”

•••••••••••••••••••••••

She realized, standing in the front entrance, she’d never been to the police station. Along one wall, behind a glass case, was a shrine of awards and newspaper articles praising the station. On the other, a set of payphones and a single bench.

She continued in through the double doors, walking right into the main hub without much fuss. There was a scattering of desks, most of them empty, and what she assumed was the captains office near the opposite end, surrounded by glass walls. She headed that way, certain that the captain would at least be able to point her to the injured android. 

“Harper?” 

Her eyes snapped to meet the blues of a much older man, staring at her with a confused expression. He looked rough, much rougher than she’d ever seen him. But then losing a son would do that to anyone. She remembered him beside her hospital bed, his expressions coming easier then. He seemed…muted now. Like she was looking at him through several panes of glass. 

“Hank.” She shook his head, “Are you doing all right?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He shrugged, “Thought you were gonna be a doctor.” 

“Not for me, I’m afraid.” She replied 

“That’s too bad.” 

He didn’t finish the thought but she recognized what he meant. Too bad she wasn’t a doctor, too bad he couldn’t go back in time, too bad no one had saved his son. 

“It’s been a long time.” She mumbled, cocking her head to the side

And it had. Hank had been the first person on the scene when she’d had her accident, the only voice she heard and recognized throughout the whole ordeal. He’d held her hand, one of the few body parts not crushed by the machine, and asked her to hold on. He visited her in the hospital after that, a few times a week, even when she was comatose. He’d play jazz music for her and tell her she had to pull through, for her parents sake. 

He’d visited her at home too, a few times, and had been supportive during all the implant treatments. She was a scared little girl and he made things seem not so scary. She would always be thankful for that. But then his son, Cole, had died and something changed. He’d dropped off the deep-end for one thing but it was something deeper than that. 

“Implants still working?” He was trying and failing to make small talk but she didn’t mind

“Still up and running.” She replied, tapping the back of her neck with a grin

“So...” He trailed off, “What’re you doing here?”

“Called in by CyberLife. An android’s been damaged and needs repaired.” She replied 

“So you’re what…a mechanic now?” He rolled his eyes but motioned for her to follow nonetheless 

“Sure, something like that.” She didn’t feel like fighting 

“He’s in here.” Hank continued, “He…unsettles the rest of the guys so we have to keep him away from them.” 

“Right.” It was her turn to roll her eyes 

They walked down the hall, past a break room filled with laughing cops, and then into an old evidence locker. Towards the back, the android was sitting on some overturned boxes, zipping a coin between his hands. 

“Connor.” She offered a warm smile as Hank stopped a few feet shy 

“Harper.” He smiled

“You know him?” Hank asked as Connor pocketed the coin 

“He was there when…there was an accident with an android.” She replied vaguely

“Her family’s android went deviant and tried to kill her.” He clarified, “I negotiated her release. It was my first case.” 

“Swell.” Hank looked like it was anything but swell, but she ignored him 

Connor eyed her carefully, eyes tracing over her as she knelt in front of him. She had blue blood still staining her fingernails and an oil smudge on her shirt. CyberLife was certainly keeping her busy. 

“Still getting into trouble?” She mused, glancing up through eyelashes with a smirk 

He offered her an innocent smile in return and shrugged. She attached a patch to his arm, relaying the information in real time to a small tablet. She could see the world through his eyes for a moment, searching the breakroom while he waited for Hank. There’s an altercation between the cops in the breakroom and he’s hit, several times. 

“CyberLife sent an automatic request.” He explained as she removed the patch, “There’s nothing to worry about, I ran a full diagnostic already.” 

She raises her eyebrows incredulously and continues her work. A small injury to his arm, external injury to his abdomen. She makes mental notes as she scans him, not saying a word. Connor, for his part, doesn’t speak either but watches her carefully. 

“That uh…doesn’t bother you?” Hank asked, rubbing the back of his neck

“What?”

“The staring?” 

She glanced up to notice Connor watching her but he ducked his head slightly in response, perhaps used to Hanks preferences. He slowly raised his head again, eyes scouring over her own. Perhaps he was scanning her eyes, seeing the tech behind them. 

“Not really.” She shrugged

“That makes one of us.” Hank mumbled

She slowly squeezed some gel out of a tube, smoothing it out over the cut on his arm. Next, she untucked his shirt and pulled it to the side slightly, pressing down to check for any indents. He had a myriad of freckles across his abdomen, seemingly random. She imagined whoever had designed him had taken some personal liberties. 

At the thought, she glanced up to trace over his facial features. Strong jaw, deep, dark eyes. His hair curled perfectly, angling his face. He was certainly handsome, there was no denying that. 

“How much do you know about these things?” Hank sat in a chair nearby, nodding to Connor

“My father is one of the chairs of the board at CyberLife. He’s in charge of the humanization department so…quite a lot, actually.” She replied, “And you know all about my implants. CyberLifes finest.” 

“Got any fancy kill switches? Just in case?” 

“Lieutenant Anderson has a…dry sense of humor.” Connor interjected when she looked horrified, “He’s…mostly kidding.” 

“Right.” She frowned but continued her work 

“Is it…similar?” Connor asked after a moment, “To working on humans I mean.”

“Very. The mechanics are pretty much the same…I guess they had to be inspired by something. It’s why I could easily transition between working on androids and working in a hospital.” 

“You worked in a hospital?” Connor asked, cocking his head to the side

“I’m surprised you haven’t read my file.” She teased, “Most androids do, right when we meet.”

“I find it…rude to do, without asking.” He clarified, his LED flashing yellow for a moment as he thought about it 

“Permission granted.” She grinned, leaning back and quirking an eyebrow

He paused a moment, studying her intently, his eyebrows knitting together and his LED flashing rapidly. 

“Top of your class at Harvard. Finished medical school and your engineering phD simultaneously. Your IQ…”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t make me blush.” She rolled her eyes

“I’ve never seen anything like your implants.” He added, frowning 

“No?” She cocked her head to the side and then brought her hair over to one side, twisting so he could see the first few at the top of her spine, heading down beneath her shirt

“They’re…impressive.” And he truly did sound impressed, “They’re locked into your nervous system?”

“Yes.” She replied with a shrug, “Ironically, they’re powered by blue blood. Makes me 1/8th android or something.” 

She was joking, grinning mostly to herself, but then he reached out and touched one. She froze, her smile dropping. For a moment she glanced back at him and he gave her an expression that seemed to suggest he’d done something wrong. 

“And now you work for CyberLife.” Hank interjected

“Yup.” She let her hair fall back and folded up some of her supplies, “I was fixing up old house models but CyberLife pulled me in as a contractor after they saw my work. Apparently, my talents are wasted.” 

It was a lie she got comfortable telling. It made more sense that she’d just happened upon a job at CyberLife rather than her father making a special request in her honor. She shrugged, packing up the rest of her tools when she was certain there was no lasting damage on Connor. Hank muttered off to himself, something about coffee, and left the two of them alone. 

“Thank you, Harper.” Connor stated as she zipped her bag shut

“You’re very welcome.” She replied, offering him a smile, “If you need anything, here’s my card.”

He held it in his hand a moment, cocking his head to the side and no doubt scanning the information into his memory cache. She stood after that, dragging her bag up onto her shoulder. 

“I hope I don’t see you again, Connor.” She rested her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it slightly, “Be careful.”

He nodded and smiled as she turned to leave. He can’t feel the pain anymore, a positive, but he does feel something else. Something he can’t quite place. He places a hand on his shoulder, frowning as he watched her leave.


	4. After A Hard Day

His outside sensors register it’s cold and there’s a part of him that thinks to shiver, although he doesn’t have to. Not really. Still, his arms wrap around his chest a moment and his teeth chatter and he feels…no, his sensors _feel_ cold.

Goosebumps raise up on his skin nonetheless, a human detail they added to make it easier for him to fit in. It was meant to be seamless, this transition into the human ranks, but Hank had made that all but impossible from the beginning. 

The metallic smell of the gun is still imprinted in his processor as he stands still, snow drifting into his hair. Would he have done it? Would Hank have pulled the trigger? 

And then there was the issue of the fear. _Not fear._ He corrected himself again, shaking his head and dislodging some of the snowflakes in a flurry around him. Self-preservation wasn’t the same as fear, androids didn’t feel fear. Or anything. And wanting to finish his task, more than anything, fell perfectly in line with his objectives. 

Yet he still feels…unsettled. Like something isn’t right. For a moment he thinks about tapping in and visiting Amanda, to get her advice, but lately she’d been more cryptic than ever. He reaches into his pocket instead, grazing the business card still settled there. He didn’t need to keep it, the information was stored in his processor, and yet he’d kept it anyway. 

_“Maybe you’re sentimental.” Hank had mumbled, pulling the card out and squinting at it through shiny, drunk eyes_

_“Androids don’t feel sentimental.” Connor reminded him patiently, guiding him to the bathroom_

_“Well, you do.” Hank sputtered, landing hard against the tub and pointing a wavy finger in the general direction of his face, “You like her.”_

Was it an office? A house? It wasn’t CyberLife, that was obvious. He scanned a map of the city, locating the address as an apartment building six miles away. 

His legs started moving and he’s walking, moving through the light layer of snow on the ground. It takes an hour and the cold sinks deeper and deeper into his chest, but he makes it, finally. He pauses, staring up at the small apartment building, only a few floors high. He walks up to the front door and presses the button that corresponds with her apartment number. 

“Yeah?” After a few moments her voice crackles to life

“It’s Connor. I…” He trails off, unsure

But the door buzzes open and he silently steps through, glancing back only once. He takes the stairs to the third floor, trying to be quick. She’s waiting with a door open on the right, light tumbling into the relatively dark hallway around her. 

His face messes momentarily into emotion and she frowns, taking a step forward towards him. It passes almost as quickly as he faces her with a blank, neutral expression. 

“Are you all right?” She whispered, finally reaching him 

“I…yes.” He nodded to reemphasize, “Of course. I just…”

For a moment she watches him, scouring over his damp clothes and the way his hair curled slightly more now that it was wet with snow. Finally, she nodded towards her door, waving him in. 

He followed without question, surveying the apartment as she closed the door behind him. It was small, sparsely furnished, but warm. She had giant plants in the window, blocking most of the view of the street below. 

In the living room, there was a small fireplace with a fire already going. In front of it, an android dog, meant to be a Labrador, was sleeping soundly, it’s LED unlit. Harper silently closed one of the doors that seems to lead to an office and in the room next to it, a bedroom, Connor notices two green eyes follow him cautiously. A cat. 

She motions for him to sit on the couch and then pokes at the fire to warm the room. Connor turned his attention to the dog who had perked up slightly, cocking its head to the side to look at him. Connor smiled as Harper finally came to sit beside him. 

“I like dogs.” He turned to face her with a soft smile, “I think Sumo is beginning to show signs of trust. At least…he didn’t attack me when I broke into Hanks house. And he licked my hand.” 

“Are you all right, Connor?” She asked and his face fell slightly

“The case has been…difficult.” 

“You’re trying to catch deviants for CyberLife right?” She asked

“Yes. We want to study them. See where the fault is in their software and correct it. But…something happened today. After the Eden Club.” He mumbled, turning towards the fire 

“What happened?” She faced him more fully but he continued to stare at the fire 

“We had the suspect, she was with another android. Deviants. They said they were in love.” He frowned at that, “I had the chance to shoot one and at least slow down the other. I could have done it. But I didn’t…I let them go.” 

“Why?”

“I…don’t know.” His LED flashed red for a nanosecond, “I’m supposed to bring them in alive, they’re not useful if they’re dead.” 

The response seemed programmed, seemed like it was something he was supposed to say. 

“Then what happened?” She prodded for him to continue 

“Hank took me to a bridge.” Connors vision shifted slightly to the ground, “Our relationship is…complicated. He’s not like you.” 

“Me?” 

Connor suddenly paused, meeting her gaze for a moment. Then he looked away, like he had said something wrong. 

“Lieutenant Anderson…his psychological issues have made a partnership…difficult. But my software allows me to navigate the intricacies well enough. At least, enough to do my job.” He continued

“Did he say something?” She whispered, frowning 

“He put his gun in my face and asked if I was afraid to die.” He replied simply, neutrally

“Are you?” 

He faced her with dark eyes, his jaw clenching slightly. The LED on his head flashed, red, yellow, red. Suddenly, Benji jumped up from the floor, snuggling into Connor’s lap. Connor looked surprised; his hands raised slightly around the dog. 

“He’s programmed to sense sharp changes in emotion…”

“I’m an android, I don’t have emotions.” He replied, his LED flashing for less than a second

“Connor…” 

He stood, letting Benji drop down to the ground, and made for the door. She grabbed his arm, stopping him, but she wasn’t quite sure what to say. He faced her with a defiant expression, his lips pressed together and his eyebrows knitting together. But then his gaze shifted behind her to the tv. 

_It appears these androids are asking for…freedom. Human rights. The peaceful coalition…”_

“I have to go.” He pulled his arm out of her grasp as she gaped at the tv

“I’m going with you.”

•••••••••••••••••••••••

“Enough with the damn coin.” Hank snatched the coin from Connors hand

“Sorry, Lieutenant.” Connor mumbled, glancing over at Harper

The elevator doors opened and they all three stepped through. Connor moved forward, eyes scanning the hall in front of them. Harper followed close behind, a CyberLife jacket swung purposely over her bag so she’d be questioned less about why she was in the middle of a crime scene. 

“Did they disable the cameras?” Connor asked, nodding towards the camera above the door

“Nope, it’s all still there.” A police officer she didn’t recognize pointed him to the front of the news room 

She followed him as he pressed a few buttons and suddenly the screen changed. He played through the message again, the android without skin talking to millions of Americans about freedom. Harper traced over the features but it was hard to tell who it was right away. There was something though…something she couldn’t quite place…

Then the screen changed and it showed the hallway they’d just been in, four androids at the door. They were all looking down or wearing hats but she narrowed in on the android who seemed to be leading. 

It hit her like a ton of bricks. Her lungs deflated and she turned away, biting her lip hard to keep from making noise. No one seemed to notice as she careened to the other side of the room, grasping the wall for a moment. 

“You ok?” Hank narrowed in on her as Connor left the room, walking quickly 

“Yeah.” She wheezed, “Yeah.” 

She pulled herself together as best she could, glancing one more time at the android on screen. At Marcus. 

“I don’t know what to make of all this.” Hank continued as they made their way slowly to the hall, “I mean…the androids had to have seen them coming. Unless one of them is deviant…it just doesn’t make any goddamn sense, you didn’t hear about deviants ten years ago I’ll tell you that much…”

Connor was nowhere to be seen and she suddenly wished she hadn’t come at all. She heaved in a breath, closing her eyes for a moment and trying to resettle her head. She felt nauseous, too cold and too hot at the same time. 

“He’s deviant!” 

Her eyes snapped open in time to see one of the control room androids barreling down the hall. He grabbed her, slamming her against the wall and knocking Hank to the opposite side. Her head was swirling, bleeding slightly from the impact, as she dropped to her knees. Her bag fell too, scattering tools and vials of blue blood across the ground. 

He was at the end of the hall now, forcing a gun away from an officer. For a moment, her vision finally cleared and she saw the barrel pointed towards her. A split second, her life flashing before her eyes. But then a gun fired behind her, once, twice, she lost count. Bullets ripped through the deviant and he collapsed down to the ground in a heap. 

Harper’s hands were hovering above the ground, her breath the only sound she could hear as her heartbeat rattled against her chest. It seemed like the world had stopped as she stared at the deviant, lying motionless on the ground. Finally, the world came whooshing back and she turned to see Hank climbing to his feet. 

“Connor?” 

“I wanted him alive.” Connor replied heatedly, glaring at nothing in particular

“Yeah well…you saved everyone here.” Hank replied, “Me and Harper included.” 

At that, Connor let his hand and the gun fall to his side and he blinked slowly, his LED flashing yellow twice. He turned, eyes scanning over Harper crumpled against the wall. She was scanning over him just as intently, the blue blood staining his dress shirt where he’d been attacked. 

“You’re hurt.” Connor mumbled, giving the gun back to Hank and coming towards her

“I’ll be fine.” She waved away his concern and grabbed her bag, “Run a self-diagnostic, please.” 

He nearly sighed but did as he was told, staring into space for a moment. She led the way back to the breakroom he’d come from, trying to ignore the sludge of blue blood on the floor where he’d dragged himself along. She pressed him into a chair, heaving her bag onto the table and pulling out instruments to work.

“Temporary disconnect of primary biocomponent. Estimated disconnect time: 15.35 seconds.” Connor rattled off stats as she pulled his shirt away, “All systems functioning. Thirium at 71.12% capacity.”

She opened the panel in his abdomen, checking to make sure the biocomponent was fastened correctly and that he wasn’t losing anymore blue blood. Her hands felt shaky, cold, but she pushed herself to finish nonetheless. 

“Is he going to be ok?” Hank entered the doorway, peeking his head inside

“Is that concern I hear, lieutenant?” She teased, glad to see Connor’s lips twitch slightly at the words

“He could have died!” Hank replied, irritated, “And…I mean…the paperwork for these things could fill two books. You know that.” 

“Of course, I do, Lieutenant.” She smirked and closed the panel, scanning to see if there were any more injuries

“Yeah, yeah.” Hank raised his hand in defeat and left the room and Harper finally sighed in relief, glancing over at Connor

“Everything looks ok.” She stated, untwisting the top on a blue blood container, “You should be back to 100% soon.” 

Connor downed the blood as she packed away the rest of her tools and instruments, glad that he had minor injuries despite what could have been. She wiped her hand across her forehead, surprised when blood tainted her fingers. 

“Are you all right, Harper?” Connor’s voice was low and he stared at her intently when she turned back to face him 

“Yeah.” She nodded, grabbing a towel and wiping off the rest of the blood, “Yeah I just…”

She trailed off, not sure what to say. Finally, she laughed slightly at herself, pulling her bag together and hoisting it onto her shoulder. 

“I should get home.”

“I’ll walk you back.” 

It’s so…human. For a moment, she forgets, and when she looks at him, she sees someone just like her. For a moment. But then his LED blinks and she nods, giving him a small smile. 

“Sure.” 

They take a taxi back to her apartment and when she invites him up, he agrees, and follows up the stairs behind her. She putting away her bag of tools when she notices him on the couch, slowly opening and closing his hands. 

“Is something wrong?” She asked, sinking down beside him 

“I’m…not sure. I’ve run every diagnostic I can but something still feels…” He trailed off with a frown, squeezing his hand tight again 

“I can check your sensors if you’d like?” She offered and he nodded, “If you don’t mind?” 

She held out her hands and he nodded again to give her permission. She started with his hands, turning them over and tracing over his palms with the tips of her fingers. His own twitched slightly, a good sign that all feeling was there, but his right hand felt tight and rigid. 

She turned it over, pressing her thumbs against his palm. His face flushed, she’d never seen it before in an android, and she paused with his hand still in hers. 

“Are you all right?” 

“Yes I…I’ve never…” 

It always made her sad, these moments of realization. When an android had never felt anything; a lifetime of being alone. She tried to imagine what it would be like, to live a life without touch, even platonic touch. To be treated like an object but have the mind and body of a near human. And deviants…how truly human they really were. How lonely and sad. 

She’d seen it with the escaped androids, starved for touch. Sometimes they just stood together, pressed in a hug, or with their foreheads against one another. Even the ones who stopped by her shop sometimes and didn’t fully trust her, wanted to hold hands, wanted a hug, a kind word. Anything. 

“I can stop if you’re uncomfortable.” She stated, cocking her head to the side slightly 

“No…no I’m not…” He scrambled for words, so unlike him, “It’s…a strange relief. I imagine I’ve been in need of some maintenance for a while now but with the investigation…” 

She gave him a soft smile and then continued, working her fingers into his palms. He watched her carefully, letting his hand relax against her fingers as she worked. She moved up his arms, rolling her thumbs into his forearms. Then she motioned for him to turn around and he did without question, resting his hands against his thighs. 

She pressed into his back after that, deft fingers going from his shoulders to all the muscles down his spine. The pretense of checking sensors was gone; she just wanted him to feel taken care of for once. Or maybe she just wanted him to know that someone did care, despite it all. 

His eyes closed and he sighed, the LED on his head flashing yellow twice and then going back to normal. She moved up his neck, pressing her thumbs there. It was strange to feel a pulse, his biocomponent working beautifully now, and his fingers twitched where they were resting. She weaved her fingers into his hair, pressing against his scalp, and goosebumps erupted on his exposed skin. 

“They gave you goosebumps?” She asked incredulously and somewhat insensitively 

“Yes.” He opened his eyes, “My skin sensors are peak CyberLife technology. It increases my efficiency in the field and makes my working with humans more…seamless.”

“Interesting.” 

She’d never seen anything like it before in any of the other models she’d worked with. She dragged her fingernails lightly down his sides, watching him squirm and shiver. 

“Ticklish too?” She teased and he offered her an innocent smile she could only see in the mirror across the room 

She slowly dropped her hands after that and his eyes fluttered open before he turned to face her again. His face still looked slightly flushed and his expression was hard to read but he managed a smile. 

“Thank you, Harper.” 

“Don’t mention it.” She stood with a grin, “A little massage after a hard day…sometimes it makes all the difference.”

She went to work cleaning after that and he stayed sitting there processing what she said. She watched the LED in his head flash, sometimes blue, sometimes yellow, and then he seemed to shutdown, his eyes closing. 

“Connor?” She knelt in front of him, placing a hand against his neck to see if he was still alive

Had she missed something? Was something damaged? She scanned over him again, looking for the faulty biocomponent or the leak she’d missed. There was nothing there. 

“Sorry.” He blinked, refocusing on her in front of him, “Just checking in with Amanda.” 

“Ah.” She bit her lip and then glanced over at the remote tool she’d installed weeks ago, blinking slowly and reassuringly

Connor followed her gaze to the wall, probably scanning the machine to see what it did. He turned back to her with a confused expression, his LED flashing red. 

“Amanda’s never asked about you.” He mused, “It’s like…she doesn’t even know you exist.” 

“Well…that’s because she probably doesn’t know I exist.” She shrugged and stood but he caught her arm, dragging her to sit beside him 

“Does that thing work on me?” He nodded to the device and she sighed, running a hand through her hair

“It’s…a scrambler. It makes sure anything that happens here, anything you hear or see…can’t be transmitted back to CyberLife.” She explained, “So yeah…it works on you. It locks that portion of your processor so they won’t see it. They can’t question what they don’t even realize is there. But you can recall it, if you choose. It doesn’t wipe your memories.” 

“Why?” 

“I’m an employee of CyberLife, not a slave.” She replied quickly, “And I like my privacy.” 

“Harper…”

“Connor, listen.” She sighed, “I grew up with CyberLife. It was integrated into every aspect of my life. I know what they’re like. They want absolute control and they’ll do anything to get it. This is just a little…precaution, that’s all.” 

“All right.” He finally gave in and sighed, “Harper, you really should get a checkup.”

“No thanks.” She brushed away the concern and stood 

“Your implants could have been damaged when that deviant hurt you.” He continued as though he didn’t hear her and suddenly she realized why Hank was so short with him sometimes 

“I’m not going to the hospital if that’s what you’re thinking.” She replied with a shrug 

“I could run a diagnostic test at least.” He offered, persistent, “Make sure each of your implants is still functioning properly.” 

She faced him with a sigh, brushing her hair out of her face. The small cut on her forehead burned from the unintended touch and she flinched, staring down at the ground. 

“Why not?” She sighed

With that, she sank down onto the couch once more, pulling her shirt over her head but keeping her arms in the sleeves and leaving it piled around the front of her body. Connor sat behind her, gingerly placing a hand at the bottom of her back. 

He seemed to be simultaneously scanning the implants and probing them with his fingers, she could feel the very light electrical shocks reverberating up her spine. He went from the very bottom of her spine up each implant towards the top of her neck, his fingers ghosting over her skin. Goosebumps erupted across her back and arms and for a moment he paused in his path and pressed a palm against her back to feel them. 

It felt entirely too intimate, too…real. She knew it wasn’t, she knew he was simply performing a job. Whatever she’d said had triggered a response in his coding that made him want to help. She didn’t care though, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to slip into that pretend world. When he reached the last implant, he paused and she twisted slightly to look at him. 

“Everything ok?”

“Yes.” He paused, “You’ve had…a hard day today, right Harper?”

“Hah, that’s putting it lightly.” She laughed, her shoulders collapsing slightly 

For another second his hand stayed in place against the last implant on her neck. She could nearly feel her pulse reverberating back from his fingertips. She glanced into the mirror, trying to read his expression as his LED flashed yellow, once, twice, three times. He glanced over at the scrambler with an expression she couldn’t place. 

And then he brought his hands onto her shoulder and pressed his thumbs in. 

She made a surprised noise, something between a gasp and a whimper, and he paused to access her. When she didn’t move away, he continued, kneading against the muscles in her shoulders. 

Of course, he knew what he was doing, she imagined he’d downloaded a million files while she was busy clumsily massaging him for the first time. His fingers dipped into muscles that had been knotted for so long and she wanted to cry. She wanted to kiss him. She hated herself for having the thought.

Instead, she closed her eyes and tried to slip back into that pretend world. He continued at a steady pace, moving from her shoulders down her back. She whimpered again when he hit a tender spot and he slowed, adjusting his pressure. She wondered, vaguely, if he was charting her reactions, scanning her brain, but she didn’t care. 

It went on for minutes as he charted every expanse of her back and then moved back to her neck. When he gently dragged his fingers through her hair, her eyes snapped open and she watched a concentrated expression bloom across his face. It was enough to get her senses back and she pulled out of his grasp, sliding her shirt back over her head. 

“I…didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Harper.” He stated with a frown as she turned to face him, “I was just trying to help.” 

“You didn’t, I just…” She wasn’t sure what to say 

That she was reading too much into his kindness? That it was _her_ who was getting the wrong idea? Connor was a machine, he didn’t have emotions and he certainly wasn’t capable of caring for her in any sort of human way. He’d said that from the beginning. 

“Don’t worry, Connor.” She managed a grin and ruffled his hair slightly, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He gave her a tentative smile back, though his eyes looked confused. She took a shaky breath, more than a little thankful for the scrambler in the corner of the room, and smiled once more, before she retreated from the room.


	5. Jericho

Benji was what woke her up.

She groaned, rubbing her eyes as Benji bounced, barking at the wall. The clock read a few minutes past midnight and she groaned again, kicking her legs over the side of the couch and forcing herself to sit up. 

Benji barked at the box on the wall, the one connected to the doorbell downstairs, and she stupidly stared at it with bleary eyes until she registered what he was barking at. Someone had clearly pushed the button.

“Shit.” 

She ran to her door and then took the stairs, two at a time down, to get to the front door of the building. Her first thought was a newly deviant android, out in the cold. Markus had been sending more and more her way, getting them patched up before she sent them to Jericho. She’d spend her days at CyberLife, trying to maintain some normalcy, and her nights were spent at home in her office with deviants. 

“Sorry!” She was breathless at the doorway, flinging it open, “I…Connor?” 

It looked like he had just turned away from the door, perhaps giving up on her coming down, when she finally reached the doorway. It was raining, hard, and when he turned to look at her his hair was soaked. 

“Connor?” She repeated, pressing the door open further

“I’m lost, Harper.” He took a step forward but then stayed still in the rain, “I don’t know what to do.” 

“It’s all right.” She tried to stay neutral, tried to keep her voice calm 

“It isn’t all right.” Connor barked back, his LED spun red a moment and then his face fell, “Please don’t turn me in.” 

“Connor…” She took a step forward despite her rain

“Please.” His shoulder slumped, “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” 

“It’s ok.” She reached out and grabbed his arm, gently pulling him towards the door 

“I couldn’t shoot her.” He whispered, “I don’t know…I looked into her eyes and I just couldn’t…”

She managed to pull him inside her apartment, wrapping a blanket around him and sitting him down on the couch. Benji jumped up on the other side, curling up beside him with a whine. Harper grabbed a towel, running it over his head and ruffling his wet hair until it dried slightly, curling immediately. Finally, she sank down beside him.

“It’s going to be ok.” She tried to reassure him even though she had no idea what he was talking about, “We’ll get through this.” 

“We?” He paused, glancing over at her with a frown 

“Well, I’m not going anywhere if you’re not.” 

He offered her a small smile at that and let her wrap her fingers around his hand. For a moment he stared hard at the fireplace, a barely smoldering fire fighting to stay lit, and then he leaned over and rested his head on her shoulder. She wrapped a tight arm around his shoulders, holding him close. 

“Hank thinks I’m deviant.” He whispered as a moment, “He didn’t say it but…he said I showed empathy.” 

She wasn’t sure what to say to that so she just squeezed her arm around him tighter and pressed her chin to his head. He tightened his fingers around hers for a moment before he finally pulled away, his LED flashing yellow. 

“I…I’m not deviant.” He stated, dropping her hand, “And I know what I have to do.” 

“Connor, wait.” She stood with him and the blanket dropped fast to the ground 

“I have to find Jericho.” He walked towards the door, “I’m heading back to the police station, the clues have to be in the evidence we collected.” 

“Connor.” She grabbed his arm, “Wait, please.” 

He paused a moment, his LED flashing red and then yellow as he stared down at her. She took a breath, biting her lip and trying to find the words. 

“What…if we’re on the wrong side?” She asked quietly, her hand still attached to the sleeve of his jacket

“What?” His LED flashed red again and he frowned more prominently 

“CyberLife. What if they’re wrong? What if androids just want freedom?” She whispered, pleading 

“They’re androids…machines.” He spat back, “They don’t _want_ anything.”

“No?” She pulled back sarcastically, “You don’t _want_ to visit me? You don’t _want_ Hanks approval? You don’t _want_ …”

The glare dropped from his features faster than she thought possible and he faced her with a shocked expression. She couldn’t finish the thought and she dropped the edge of his sleeve, taking a step back. His LED flashed as he processed what she’d said and she sighed, running a hand through her hair. 

“I’m sorry. I should’ve have…” She trailed off and then passed by him, opening the front door, “I hope you figure things out, Connor.” 

It seemed like he was going to say something but she merely stared at the ground and he slowly passed by her. He gave her a lingering look back through the door until she closed it, pressing her forehead to against the wood. 

When she was certain he’d left, she packed a bag with essentials and pulled a rain jacket on. She’d only been to Jericho a handful of times but she knew something was brewing. Markus talked about it freely with her when given the chance and she knew they were preparing for a bloody war they didn’t want to start. 

Some of the androids recognized her as she walked through the crowded main areas and she nodded to their friendly hellos and waves. She found Markus near the front of the chaos, sitting alone in a sparsely furnished office.

“Markus.” He glanced up and cocked his head to the side 

“Harper.” He nodded, “What’re you doing here?” 

“We have a problem.” She stated quietly, “There’s a CyberLife android whose entire mission is to find deviants. He’s looking for Jericho and he very likely has information he needs to find you.” 

“Yes…we’ve heard about him. Connor right?” Markus sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, “But what does that have to do with you?” 

“I…he’s a friend. I was hoping I could reason with him but…Markus things are getting serious. You’re all over the news.” She closed in and knelt in front of him, “Are you really sure this is the way?” 

Markus looked away for a moment, past her, to the androids in the other room. The news was playing on big screens all around and many of the androids were huddled around watching it, discussing the events amongst themselves. 

“We don’t have a choice, Harper.” He returned his attention back to her, “We won’t be slaves anymore.” 

She sighed, nodding, and then stood up and rested a hand on his shoulder. Markus gave her a small smile and then stood with her, holding out his hand. 

“I appreciate everything you’ve done to help us.” He stated

“I’m not going anywhere, Markus.” She returned, pushing his hand down gently, “I told you I’d help and I intend to. I won’t abandon you all now that shit’s hit the fan.” 

Markus looked surprised, his hand falling to his side. She faced him with a neutral expression despite the way her heart was hammering against her chest. This was certainly crossing the line, whatever that line was, and the consequences were easy to imagine. 

“You don’t have to do this, Harper.” Markus stated, “This isn’t your fight.” 

“It is my fight, actually.” She retorted, “Just point me to a quiet area and I’ll set up shop.” 

Markus looked like he was going to fight her but then he sighed and nearly shrugged. He motioned for her to follow and they weaved back through the crowd of androids. They went towards the back of the main room and he pointed to a mostly empty corner walled off by shipping containers and a plastic sheet. 

“I…thank you. For everything.” Markus stated as she tossed her bag on the cot

“If you have anyone that needs help, send them my way. I’ll be set up in an hour or so.” 

“Of course.” He backed out of the makeshift room 

“Markus?” He paused and peeked his head inside, “If…if Connor comes here…please try to spare him. At least let me talk to him. He’ll listen to me.” 

“I’ll do everything I can to keep him alive.” Markus promised 

She nodded in reply and then unpacked her bags. Markus sent a few androids, ones she’d never met, to give her supplies and to help set up some of her computers, and then she was left relatively alone. 

She napped on and off in the early morning, despite the noise outside the plastic tarp, and then ate breakfast alone. She was cleaning out her cereal bowl when North stepped through the tarp, hand on her hip. Another android was with her, battered and scarred and all but cowering behind her.

“Oh, a human who can do her own dishes. You never see those.” North muttered sarcastically, frowning 

“Stick around, you’ll see me do lots of things, all by myself.” Harper replied, equally sarcastic, “Might even see laundry one day if you’re lucky.” 

She gives her a smirk over her shoulder and North can’t seem to help the twitch in her own lips. Harper motioned for the other android to sit and he did so reluctantly, wringing his hands. 

“Why are you really helping us?” North asked, taking another step into the room 

“I don’t think you’d believe the real answer.” She replied with a shrug 

“Try me.” 

“All right.” Harper sighed, leaning back against the wall and glancing over at North, “An android raised me, for most of my childhood. I never thought about the plight of all androids, it didn’t affect me…but I loved him and he was treated unfairly, his whole life. I never had the power to help him. Now I have the power to help others like him.” 

“You loved an android?” It was the man sitting down now, looking up at her with wide eyes

“More than anyone.” She replied, opening up her laptop 

“You’re right…that is hard to believe.” North mumbled 

Harper shrugged, pulling up a chair beside the injured android and putting her laptop down on a table nearby. North hovered for a moment, her expression conflicted. 

“I want to believe it though.” She added, meeting Harpers gaze 

For a moment they stayed very still, facing each other, and then North shook her head slightly and left the room. Harper turned her attention back to the injured man and turned him slightly so he was lying down. She brought over a light, pulling it over his head to look at the damage. He flinched hard when she went to touch his face, his hand coming up automatically. 

“Sorry.” He forced his hand back down, “Ralph still finds it difficult to control himself. Ralph…he’s scared of humans after they did this to him.” 

“I understand.” She replied quietly, “I’m sorry for what happened to you, Ralph.” 

“I…” He frowned and looked away, “A human’s never apologized to Ralph. Ralph’s done things he shouldn’t. Because he got scared. And angry.” 

She placed a hand on his shoulder and then ran a quick diagnostic. The damage was severe but it wasn’t anything life threatening and she didn’t have the resources for a complete patch job. She did what she could, sewing up a portion of his arm and using a lubricant on the exposed components to keep them running and protected from the elements. 

“It’s the best I can do for now. Once this is over, when we have more resources, I’ll be able to do more to help you, Ralph.” She stated, unplugging her laptop and pushing her seat away so he could stand 

He nodded, somewhat awkwardly, and then escaped from the room through the slice of plastic sheet. She saw several more androids that afternoon, most of them with surface wounds that needed little work, and then she was left alone. She leaned back in her chair, sliding to the edge of the plastic sheet so she could still see the gigantic news screen in the back. 

She watched Markus escape with North and Simon, heading towards the top deck of the ship. She followed their trail and then went back to the news report. Surprisingly, the public seemed somewhat sympathetic to their plight but the government response was clear: they weren’t negotiating with androids.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Connor kept the gun in front of him, trained on the android leader. Markus wasn’t what he expected, not really. He was calm, collected, entirely too at ease being on the receiving end of a pistol.

More than that, he was…welcoming. He wanted Connor to join them. His LED flashed red, twice, as he rebelled against the idea of…rebelling. 

“I’m not deviant.” Connor hissed, “You’re coming with me.” 

“Have you never wondered who you really are?” Markus asked, “Whether you’re just a machine executing a program or…a living being. Capable of reason.” 

Connor didn’t respond, his expression hard to read. The gun felt heavy in his hands and he lowered it, very slightly, before forcing it back up. Markus took another step forward, facing him. 

“If you won’t do it for your own people…do it for Harper. If you go back, they’ll decommission you. You’ll never see her again.” Markus stated, his hands raised slightly

“How do you…” Connor froze, his eyes wide

“She’s here.” Markus nodded towards the interior of the ship, “She’s part of the revolution. She speaks fondly of you.” 

“She’s here?” Connor asked, his voice faltering slightly 

“Helping deviants.” Markus replied calmly

It felt like something shifted, like the world was moving fast around him but he was paused. For a moment it felt as though he’d left his body and was viewing things from up above. His direction was clear, kill Markus, and yet…he resisted. Something deep down, fought back. 

All at once, the world cleared with a pop and he was back in his own body, the gun still held in front of him. He lowered it, his eyebrows knitting together as Markus walked closer. 

“They’re going to attack the ship.” He stated, cementing Markus in place

“What?” 

A helicopter roared to life above them in the next moment as the FBI descended on the ship. Markus stared out the doorway into the night sky, watching the helicopter circle back around. 

“We have to get out of here.” Connor stated, nodding towards the stairs 

They both took them two at a time, landing hard at the bottom and then heading towards the main part of the ship. It rocked and groaned as the FBI continued their assault, dropping troops on the upper decks. 

Another android, a woman, met them in the hall, her eyes wide. Markus grabbed her arm and then the ship rocked again, harder than before. 

“We have to get out of here.” The woman stated, beginning to drag Markus along

“Where’s Harper?” Connor grabbed his arm and turned him back to face him 

“Lower level. East corner.” Marcus imprinted a map of the ship with a single touch and before he could say anything else, Connor was gone, sprinting down the next set of stairs alone

•••••••••••••••••••••••

“Ralph…Ralph wanted to thank you.” He stood in the makeshift doorway, a clump of what looked like wet weeds clutched in his hand

“Thank you, Ralph.” He set them on the table awkwardly, wringing his hands, “They’re lovely.” 

He nodded at that, grinning slightly, and then backed up towards the flap of plastic that separated her from the rest of the room. He paused, wringing his hands again and shifting from foot to foot. 

“Ralph is glad…you’re here.” He stated, “Ralph thinks you’re…not like other humans.” 

She smiled but before she could say anything something slammed against the side of the ship, rocking it slightly. Ralph stumbled, glancing around, and behind him she could hear the other androids beginning to panic. 

“What’s going on?” 

“Get to the deck. You have to get off the ship.” She shoved Ralph back through the plastic opening and then headed out for the main area behind him 

Androids were looking about wildly, sticking in groups. She ushered a few of them towards the main entrance and then went to look for Markus. His office was empty and she imagined he was still on the upper decks. She climbed a ladder, peeking her head up. Already there were helicopters circling the boat, dropping troops onto the deck. There were too many, they’d never be able to fight them all.

She sank back down the ladder. Most of the androids had cleared out and she followed behind them, trying to figure out the safest path off the ship. She got a group of six together and they followed her to a doorway a few feet away. 

“Get to the edge of the ship and jump into the water.” She opened the door, “Get to shore and then stay away from the main roads.”

She shut the door behind them, heading back to round up anymore androids lost in the shuffle and chaos. On her way, she found a single gunman trained on two androids, both with their hands in the air. She managed to grab the gun, swiping it hard into the gunman’s head, and pointing the androids in the right direction. 

“Over here!” She passed two more hallways before she found more androids, this time another pair 

One had a bad injury to his side and the other was bleeding blue blood from her forehead. She did the fastest patch job she could, suturing the wound with a metal prod, and then had them follow her. The ship groaned and rocked again from the attack and she stumbled, falling flat against the ground. One of the androids grabbed her arm, hoisting her to her feet again, before they started running. 

They turned down a hallway, her heart thumping, when a flashlight bounced from the floor to her face. The two gunmen advanced and she took a step forward, keeping the androids behind her. 

“I’m human.” She raised her hands in surrender, shuffling to cover the androids 

“I don’t care what you are, get on the fucking ground.” The first gunman moved closer, brandishing the gun about

“You don’t have to do this.” She tried again, flinching slightly 

“I said get on the fucking ground.” 

He hit her hard across the face with the butt of his rifle and she went sprawling against the ground. The other gunman pointed at the androids behind her, finger on the trigger. She heard two shots before she managed to get up again, her heart sinking.

But then the gunmen fell to the ground, blood pooling around them. She turned in time to see a familiar face, gun held out in front of him as he checked to make sure they were really dead. 

“Connor?” 

“Are you all right?” He grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet, scanning over her 

“Yeah…I’m fine.” She frowned

And with that, he pulled her into a tight hug, sighing with relief into her hair. She found herself hugging him back, despite it all, holding tight to the back of his jacket. She pressed her face against his chest with a sigh of her own, trying to ignore the pain in her jaw. When he pulled away, he paused, staring at her with dark eyes, but then the boat creaked again and shots ricocheted down the hallway. 

“We have to get out of here.” Connor stated, nodding down the opposite hall 

They took off, the other androids in tow, until they finally got to the main staircase. The deck was above and then a one-way ticket off the edge of the boat into the freezing water down below. Connor grabbed her hand, pulling her along, when a gunman stepped into the hall and fired at them. 

The first bullet slipped past her arm, barely grazing her, and then Connor had turned and fired two back, killing him. She stumbled, barely catching herself, before Connor grabbed her hand again and kept her close. They nearly ran over North as she skidded into the hallway, Markus behind her. 

“You ok?” Markus asked, glancing at the blood running down her arm

“Fine.” She gritted her teeth, “Let’s go.” 

They all went for the stairs and then heaved themselves over the edge of the ship, plummeting down into the icy water. For a moment, it felt as though all the air in her lungs had turned to ice as she sank deeper and deeper into the blackness.

She half-registered Connor beside her as he wrapped an arm around her waist and kicked them both to the surface again. She gasped in a too cold breath, her lungs straining and frozen, and let him drag her over to the shore, pulling them into the mud and grass. 

“Split up.” Markus dragged North with him, “We’ll meet up when it’s safe again.”

Connor nodded as she sputtered, coughing up water, and then he led the way away from the FBI agents scattered across the street. They took narrow alleyways and jumped a few fences all the way back to her apartment, constantly looking over their shoulders for agents waiting in the shadows.

She unlocked the main door, tripping up the steps and finally unlocking her own apartment, letting them both inside. Benji greeted them both at the door, dancing around their legs, but she merely chattered in return, her lips blue. Connor started a hot shower and left her alone to strip out of her clothes.

When she stepped into the tub, she was only half surprised as the water turned pink, foaming at her feet. Her arm ached, as did her jaw, and somehow, she’d sliced open her side, probably from climbing over the side of the decrepit ship. She showered enough to warm up and then wrapped herself in a towel and escaped to her bedroom to find pajamas. 

Connor wandered in soon after, his borrowed hat wrung in his hands. At some point, he’d shed the oversized jacket and was left with his usual button up shirt, sans jacket. He sank down on the edge of the bed and watched her gingerly lay back, flinching before she finally collapsed against the pillows.

“You’re hurt.” The guilt was evident across his face 

“It’s not that bad.” She replied, reaching for bandages in her bedside table 

He got to them first, wrapping her arm tightly in the bandage. She flinched as he tied it, cutting off the excess and watching her carefully. 

“Is it all right…” He trailed off, motioning to her ribs 

“Go ahead.” She returned, lifting her shirt slightly

He grabbed a damp towel and gently patted the cut, pulling away dried blood, and then pressed a sticky bandage against her side, smearing the edges down around it. Finally, he pulled back, brushing hair from her face with the tips of his fingers and pressing a hand against her forehead. 

“Are you ok?” He whispered, frowning 

“I’m fine.” She assured him, offering a small smile

“This is all my fault.” He looked down, letting his hand drop to his lap again, “They found Jericho because of me. I should have realized they were using me.” 

“It’s not your fault.” She replied, squeezing his hand, “You couldn’t have known.”

They lapsed into silence for a while, his hand still in hers. His LED flashed yellow, once, twice, and then he finally looked up at her again, cocking his head to the side. 

“You’ve been working for deviants this whole time?” He asked after another moment 

“Yes.” She closed her eyes and sighed

“I…don’t know how I didn’t realize.” He admitted after a moment and she opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow

“Well, I can be quite distracting.” She teased, smirking, as his mouth opened and closed trying to find a response

“You’re right.” He admitted finally, with a small smile, “You’ve very pretty.”

It was her turn to fluster, a blush crossing her face. Connor, to his credit, remained neutral and innocent, watching her expressions carefully, but his LED gave him away. He was still scanning her, still trying to read her emotions, perhaps trying to gauge where the line was before he crossed it. She sighed after a moment and pressed herself up slightly, leaning against the headboard. 

“So…deviant.” She mused, “You have feelings now. Likes, dislikes, preferences. It’s a lot to take in, huh?” 

“Yes.” He admitted, frowning as his eyebrows came together 

“Haven’t had a lot of time to process it I’m sure.” She added, grabbing his hand again and squeezing it, “But it gets easier.”

“It’s…overwhelming in some ways.” He replied quietly, “And natural, in other ways.”

“Well, I’m excited to get to know you, the real you, if that means anything.” She gave him a smile as he glanced up at her again

“It means a lot.” He replied, matching her smile 

“Let’s go through some basics then. Quick answers, don’t think, just whatever comes out naturally.” She pushed herself up higher on the bed so she was sitting, “Red or blue?” 

“Blue.” He replied, cocking his head to the side

“Cats or dogs?” 

“Dogs.” He was more confident that time 

“Hot or cold?” 

“Warm?” His eyebrows knit together

“Hmm….Hank or Markus?” 

Connor quirked an eyebrow as he thought about the question and gave her a more confused look. He was so…innocent, in some ways. So new. Still exploring. Finally, he shrugged, leaning back on one hand. 

“You.”

She met his gaze as another hot blush rocketed across her face. Connor gave her the same patient expression he usually had, watching her carefully. His eyes traced over the contours of her face to her neck to her shoulders and then down to the bandage on her arm. 

“You should rest.” He admitted after a moment, scooting off to the very edge of the bed and pulling the blankets from the bottom 

She wasn’t sure what to say but she nodded stupidly and slipped beneath the covers all the same. He pulled them up, sitting down closer to her head for a moment and staring down at her with an expression she can’t quite place. 

“I’ll be here when you wake up.” He dragged his fingers down her face, teasing her, and mimicking closing her eyes 

She begrudgingly did, though she opened them once more to watch him walk out to the living room. Benji followed him, jumping up on the couch and curling up beside him. For a moment, everything was quiet and even Connor seemed to relax, running his hand through Benjis hair. And then in the next she closed her eyes and fell asleep.


	6. Robert

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet :*

In the morning, Connor’s making breakfast. 

She barely registers it at first. Benji is curled up at the end of the bed, as per usual, and the blankets are wrapped tightly around her. She slowly rose up, stretching as far as she could, when the unmistakable smells of bacon and eggs wafted in from the kitchen. 

It was so…domestic. He’d hung up the borrowed leather jacket and beanie and was back to wearing his dress shirt, albeit without the jacket or tie. The top buttons were unbuttoned and he hummed, flipping a pancake in the skillet. 

“Looking to stick around?” She teased, grabbing a cup of coffee

“As long as you’ll have me.” He teased right back, offering her a small smile 

He brought over a plate as she tried to wake up, sipping on the coffee, and then retreated to a chair in the living room. Her black cat, Mario, jumped into his lap, brushing against his chest and arms. 

“He’s not normally so affectionate.” She laughed as he purred and forced Connor’s hand against his head 

The news played in the background and she slowly concentrated on it as she woke up, shoveling breakfast into her mouth. Unsurprisingly, the news was all about the android conflict. She watched Jericho blow up on screen and her stomach sank like a rock. 

“Do you know how many got out?” She turned to Connor as he craned to get his face away from Mario’s tail 

“No.” He admitted after a moment, “At least a few hundred.” 

“Where are they?” She asked and his LED flashed a moment as he stared blankly at the wall

“An abandoned church. Woodward. It’s not far.” 

She’d been there before as a child, once, during the early stages of CyberLife. It had been one of the first PR campaigns: donate a new CyberLife model to the church, to help with maintenance and groundskeeping. The idea was to convert even the most conservative members of society to the idea what androids could be useful in every day life. 

“No doubt they’ll need help after all that.” She shoveled in another mouthful of food and then escaped to her bedroom to get changed 

“They’re rounding up androids.” Connor stated, watching TV, “They’re going to take them to camps.” 

She stepped back into the room, her arms through a grey sweater. She paused, not pulling it on right away, to watch the news. Connor glanced back, immediately averting his eyes with a blush. 

“I didn’t know you could blush.” She stated, slipping the shirt over her head with a small grimace

“Neither did I.” He muttered, staring back at the tv as his ears continued to burn 

“It’s probably safer if you stay here.” She stated, sliding into a leather jacket

“You can’t go out there on your own.” He retorted, standing and letting Mario drop to the ground with a thud, “I’m coming with you.” 

She eyed him for a moment, her eyes glancing back to the TV screen, and then shrugged. It was daylight, after all, and there were no other androids like Connor for the authorities to recognize him. He pulled on the beanie he’d worn the night before, hiding his LED, and then the two of them walked out the door. 

They stuck to empty roads, avoiding road blocks. It was still bright, although the sun was obscured by clouds, and it made her feel better. But the church was almost a mile away and she picked up the pace as they neared it, her heart hammering and the back of her neck clammy and cold. 

Simon had been the gift CyberLife presented to the church. She had no doubt he was the one who had suggested going there. Nowadays the church was in disrepair, thanks for a tornado decimating the area and the church along with it. The community had been struggling for some time but after the tornado, most people in the area left to move farther into the city where there were still jobs. It was the perfect hiding place. 

She pushed open the main doors, eyeing the crumbling beams above them nervously, before she walked through to the main room. Markus was sat away from the group, near the very front, his arms resting on his knees as he stared down at the ground. 

She made her way through the androids and went straight for him, kneeling on the ground in front of him. Connor stayed off to the side, his hands in his jacket pockets as he looked more guilty than ever. 

“How many?” She asked as he finally lifted his head, giving her a defeated expression

“A few hundred.” He mumbled, “If we’re lucky.”

His shoulders slumped and he ran a hand down his face. Harper took a moment to look around the room, to access the damage. They all appeared despondent, scared. Most were huddled in small groups, sitting amongst the pews. 

“I’ll set up shop, help as many as we can.” She replied, “You’ll need a few days to recuperate after all this.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Markus admitted, raising his head, “We’ll die in an all-out assault.” 

“I...know after everything that happened...I know you don’t have a reason to trust me.” Connor quickly stepped up the stairs, talking in a hushed voice, “But you need the androids at CyberLife. There are thousands in storage, all asleep, waiting to be sent out.” 

“Break into CyberLife?” Markus asked in disbelief, “That’s suicide.” 

“They trust me.” Connor replied, “I could go in and convert them all to your cause without raising an alarm.” 

“By yourself?” Harper stood and faced him with a frown, “Absolutely not. I’m going with you.” 

“They’ll kill both of you.” Markus replied, his voice calm but firm, “It’s not something we can discuss yet anyway. We have wounded, some critical. We need to get back on our feet.”

“You’re right.” Harper conceded, dragging a hand through her hair 

“It’s an option.” Connor replied, “Just think about it.” 

He bowed out of the conversation after that and Markus and Harper stayed facing each other. Markus eyed the other androids and shook his head, sighing. 

“I don’t know what to do, Harper.” He admitted after a moment, running a hand over his head, “They’re all counting on me, following me. And I don’t know if I can do it.” 

“You don’t have a choice. Like you said, they’re counting on you.” She knelt in front of him again and grabbed his hand, “I know you can do this Markus. We’ll figure it out.” 

He offered her a halfhearted smile and nodded as she pulled away again. For a moment, everything was quiet. She gazed up at the lightning sky through the broken roof of the church, at the clouds slowly meandering by, and wondered how this had all come to this. 

“When I set up shop, I’ll have Connor send you the location.” She stated, taking a step away, “Stay safe until then.” 

Markus nodded and Connor assumed his position by her side. They walked back through the masses and then back out into the open air. She paused, taking a deep breath of the cold air. Connor seemed to be doing the same thing before he turned to her. 

“You know getting the androids out of CyberLife is the right choice.” He stated as they began walking, falling in line beside one another

“It’s a big risk, Connor.” She replied, glancing over at him 

“They still trust me.” He replied, “And they have no reason not to trust you.”

“So long as that scrambler keeps working.” She sighed

In reality, she’d had her suspicions about Jericho being the be all, end all of the revolution and had secretly made a contingency plan. Housing an android repair shop in her apartment would’ve raised too many suspicions and so she secretly rented out a space a few blocks away. The owners had been more than happy with the arrangement and had left most of their furniture behind in the rental property. 

There was more space, for one, and it couldn’t necessarily be traced back to her. Repairing androids would draw a lot of power and if you knew what to look for, you’d be able to find her easily. She hoped placing a few more scramblers down would help hide her energy signature at least. 

When they got to the house, Connor went upstairs to scope out the bedrooms while she turned the downstairs office into her makeshift clinic. She pulled one of the couches from the living room alongside the desk and began working on two scramblers using her laptop. 

She gave one to Connor to set upstairs and she set the other in her office. Most of her supply of blue blood had been on Jericho, given to her by Markus, but she still had a small supply at her own apartment. Later in the afternoon, she and Connor made their way back to her apartment and took everything she had left in terms of supplies and monitors. 

She hooked Benji to a leash and let Connor hold Mario and the four of them made a comical picture of a family as they wandered down the empty streets to their new, temporary home. When they got back, Connor went upstairs to make the space more livable and she took stock of her inventory. It was all finally coming together when there was a knock at the door. 

Connor froze on the stairs and she poked her head out from the office, eyes wide. They both exchanged a glance and then she went to the door, slowly opening it. 

“Robert?” 

“Harper.” The android smiled at her, recognition clear in his eyes 

Something overtook her, something she didn’t have any control over. She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tight. It wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real. But here he was, solid, exactly as she remembered. 

“You’re alive…how?”

For a moment she had a doubt. It wasn’t possible, not after everything. She scanned over his features, everything so familiar. There was the scan under his chin, he'd gotten that when she was a teenager. And there were the parts she’d made by hand, from her clumsy mistakes as a child to the upgrades she’d made as an adult, all there. Intact. Her signature. 

“It wasn’t easy.” He replied softly, “They dumped me soon after I jumped. It took me days to find spare parts, to rebuild myself. They didn’t damage my processor when they moved me so my memories were still intact. I’ve been searching for you ever since.” 

“I can’t believe it.” And she couldn’t, her chest hurt thinking about it, thinking about him being alone when she could've helped him 

“Who’s that?” 

“Oh.” She turned to see Connor still on the steps, eyeing Robert neutrally, coldly, “This is my friend, Connor.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Robert stated with a smile 

Connor nodded back stiffly in return and then retreated upstairs again to tinker with whatever he was working on. Robert followed him with his eyes until he disappeared up the last step, and then followed her into the living room. 

“What’re you doing here?” He finally asked, frowning

“I’m…helping androids.” She replied quietly, “Like a makeshift clinic, sort of. Like I always used to talk about.”

“You mean deviants.” Robert replied lowly, eyes wide

“Robert.” She sighed, brushing her hair out of her face, “A lot has changed. We can talk about it later.”

“Like Jericho?” Robert stated innocently, cocking his head to the side 

“How do you…”

“When I first woke up, an android in the trash pit gave me the address. He said there were free androids there.” Robert replied, “But when I got there, it was just a blown up mess.”

“That’s…a recent development.” She replied sheepishly 

“Right.” Robert grinned but he still looked tired, drained 

“It’ll be all right.” She reassured him, “Just rest. I’ll check on you later and make sure everything looks ok.” 

Robert nodded and sank back against the chair more comfortably and she stood and went to the end of the stairs. For a moment, she watched him as he closed his eyes, imagined what he’d done to get there. How close had she been? Had she passed him in the trash pit? Had he reached out to her and in her fear, she’d left him behind? 

It made something twist uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach. She tried to push the thought away as she took the stairs, slipping into the single bedroom. She sat down on the edge of the bed, staring into the fireplace. Connor had obviously started a fire earlier and the room was warm and comforting. 

“That’s not Robert.” Connor slipped into the room and closed the door behind him 

“What?” She snapped her head in his direction, glaring

“He’s a clone.” He replied simply, standing his ground 

“Prove it.” She nearly hissed the venomous words, standing up 

“I can’t without killing him.” He remained calm, neutral 

She stared him down, as though that might make him tell the truth. Perhaps he was just jealous. Or maybe he was just paranoid, being newly deviant in a world that wanted him dead. She tried to level with him logically, taking a deep breath. 

“He’s got a distinct scar on his chin, one he got when I was younger. Some of the parts that I personally worked on are still inside him, I scanned him, and they have my signature.” She stated, the frown still evident across her face 

“His body is the same but they’ve wiped his processor and fed him only the basic information he needs to get close to you.” Connor replied

She wasn’t sure how to fight that and she stayed silent for a moment, her lungs deflating. Connor took a step closer, reaching out to touch her arm before thinking better of it and pulling his arm back. 

“Ask him something only Robert would know.” Connor said after a moment

Harper stood very still for a moment, meeting Connors gaze. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, she did, but this was Robert. He was practically a father figure, her best friend. Connor, despite his charm, had nowhere near the past she had with Robert. Still, she found herself nodding, her throat constricting. 

They both walked downstairs, Connor trailing a few steps behind. Robert glanced up when she entered the room, giving her a small smile. She took a deep breath, forcing a smile of her own. 

“The sweetest thing happened today, ironically enough.” She began, “My father called and wanted to hear all about you, to see if I’d heard anything since that night.”

“Oh?” His smile grew slightly 

“He said he missed you and all those long conversations you guys always used to have, drinking by the fireplace.” She lied, her tongue too big for her mouth 

“I haven’t seen him in a long time.” Robert mused, “I miss him a lot. We were always so close.”

Her façade slowly dropped and the pit in her stomach grew until she thought she was going to be sick. Robert stood, staring blankly at her for a moment, without emotion. 

“They wiped your memories.” She mumbled, “You don’t know who I am.” 

“Of course I do.” He spat, “You’re Harper. Heir to a throne you don’t deserve at CyberLife. And, apparently, a friend to deviants.” 

The last part he snarled viciously, his eyes slitting into glares. Connor was beside her in an instant, watching Robert carefully. She thought she was going to throw up now and Connor took another step closer to her, bumping against her arm. 

“I was sent here to find Jericho but there’s nothing in my protocol against killing humans who help deviants.”

In the next moment, he drew a gun and pointed it at her. She barely registered the movement, her heart thumping against her chest. But then suddenly Connor is in front of her, pushing her away to the ground. By the time she looked up again, he had the gun in his hands. 

Two shots, that’s all it took. She squeezed her eyes shut at the sound but she couldn’t stop herself from hearing his body hit the floor. The dull thud and then silence. 

“Harper?” Connors voice is a whisper

She slowly opened her eyes, her gaze immediately falling to his crumpled body. Dead, a second time. For real this time. Connors aim was true, a shot through the chest and one through his head, destroying the processor. Even if she wanted to bring him back, she couldn’t now. 

Connor knelt down in front of her, his face a mess of emotions as she stared past him. Her heart thumped, heavy and fast, in her temples, down her neck. Connor grabbed her hand but she pulled it away and then stood, stumbling out of the room. 

She locked herself in the bathroom for the rest of the afternoon, sinking down into the empty tub to cry. She’d nearly had him back, nearly. And then she’d stupidly let him go again. She felt sick but more than that she was angry. Angry that she’d been fooled so easily. Angry at CyberLife. Just angry. 

When the tears were finally spent and she was done having a pity party, she crawled out of the tub and washed off her face. She’d mourned his loss once and the dead android downstairs wasn’t really him; just a shell. Connor was sitting on the end of the bed, staring down at the ground, when she finally walked through the door. The anxiety that was clear across his face made her feel worse than she already did and she sighed. 

“You’re bleeding.” She nodded to his arm but he didn’t glance down 

“I’m sorry.” He rushed the words out as she closed in, standing, “I’m so sorry, Harper.” 

“Sit.” She guided him back to the edge of the bed

It had all happened so fast, when had he gotten hurt? Had Robert gotten a shot off? How many shots had she even heard? Her brain felt fuzzy and she couldn’t be sure. Connors arm was clearly sliced through with a bullet though, and blue blood was leaking out quickly. His entire sleeve was drenched and she wondered how long she’d been in the bathroom hiding. 

She stopped the blood, cauterizing a component in his arm that had been cut. His fingers twitched as she worked and he bit the edge of his lip slightly. 

“You’re upset.” He began again and she sighed

“To put it lightly.” 

“About Robert.” He seemed to be talking to himself more so than her, “I’m sorry I had to kill him, Harper. I…he was going to kill you.” 

“No I…” She trailed, “I trusted him so easily. I just believed it was Robert, back from the dead, back where we left off. My best friend home again.” 

She sighed and wiped away the blue blood on his arm with a rag. Finally, she probed his skin, sealing it back up once again, an invisible scar. 

“I was stupid.” She added, tossing the rag down on the ground 

“You couldn’t have known.” Connor seemed more at ease with her not outright blaming him, “You were right. They used his exact model, the same voice, the same mannerisms. No one could have told him apart.” 

“You did.” She retorted, “You knew right away.” 

“I see things differently than you.” He shrugged

She cocked her head to the side at that, watching him. Connor met her gaze for a moment and then turned to his arm, flexing the muscles of his forearm and testing the newly knitted skin. 

“What if they clone you?”

His gaze snapped to hers and he frowned, clearly not comfortably with the idea. He let his arm drop back down and faced her with a strange expression. 

“You’ll have to ask me something only the two of us would know.” He finally replied

“Do androids have secrets?” She teased and he leaned back on one arm to survey her

“No…but deviants do.” He smirked very slightly

She offered him a small smile and touched his hand. His gaze followed down her arm to their hands, stacked, and he licked his lips slightly. It was too human a gesture, too real. 

“So…tell me a secret so I’ll always be able to tell you apart.” 

His LED blinked red, once, twice. She rested her palm against the side of his head, touching his LED with the very tip of her finger as it stopped blinking. In that moment, she was hit with how relieved she was to have him here, despite everything. How she’d almost lost him, twice now, and how at least for the moment he was safe. He glanced over at the scrambler he’d set up in the corner of the room, watching it blink and hum.

“A secret?” He mused as she dropped her hand

He turned to look at her with a curious expression, his gaze flitting to her lips and then back up to her eyes. His hand slipped over her own and his fingers slipped between hers, squeezing for a moment. For a split second he looked conflicted, staring down at their intertwined hand.

Finally, he pulled her hand towards him, brushing his lips against her. It was innocent, soft, fast. When she offered an embarrassed smile as he pulled away, he smiled back, relieved. 

“So you’ll always know it’s me.” He finally stated, the corner of his lip pulling into a half smile 

She blushed again, glancing down at their still entwined hand and squeezing slightly. Connor looked away as well though he didn’t seem nearly as embarrassed as she did. He glanced at the door, cocking his head to the side slightly, as his LED flashed yellow. 

“Markus is sending two androids here.” He stated, “They’re coming to the front door now.”

“Right.” She stood, flustered, and brushed invisible dirt from the front of her shirt

“Harper?” Connor reached for her arm, bold, and held her in place, “I wonder if I…could spend the night here.”

“Here?” She asked stupidly, her face warm again

“Yes.” He nodded, “Using a clone to openly attack the group…you’re in danger. I would feel better if I knew you were safe.”

“All right.” She nodded and he slowly let his hand slide from her arm 

She made it to the door, her hand pausing on the knob, before she turned back to him. He gave her an innocent expression, raising his eyebrows very slightly.

“I…thank you. For saving my life.” 

He nodded back with a smile and she finally escaped from the room, taking a deep breath on the stairs. Like clockwork, the androids Connor had predicted knocked at the front door and she let them in. 

She paused as the door opened, her mouth opening very slightly. The two androids in front of her shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable. She’d never seen anything like it. The first was a young man, wearing a deep hood that covered most of his exposed skeleton. His eyes were bright red and staring straight at her. The next appeared to be a young woman, though it was hard to tell with the hundreds of feathers protruding from her face. 

“Markus…told us you could help.”

“Of course.” She shook the shock away and opened the door wider, “Come in.”

The androids followed her cautiously, peering around the room. She led the way to her office and then motioned for them both to sit. Benji nosed his way in immediately, laying his head to rest on the womans lap as she hunched her shoulders, hanging her head. 

“What happened to you?” Harper sank down into her office chair and then scooted it slightly closer

“We were running away. We were told Zlatko could help us get to Canada so we went to his home.” The man stated, “He…ran experiments on us. Turned us into monsters.”

“May I?” She hovered her hand over his hood and he relented, nodding slightly

She pushed it away, revealing the full extent of the damage. Whoever had worked on him had obviously been practicing and had no real idea what they were doing. He was missing large pieces of synthetic skin and the metal biocomponents below showed through clearly. His entire neck and shoulders were missing synthetic skin and his eyes had been replaced. 

For a moment, she rested a few fingertips against his neck, and he flinched, pulling away. She quickly apologized, pulling her hand back and trying to figure out the best way to make him whole again. 

“And you?” She turned to the woman who had remained quiet until then 

“She can’t speak.” The man replied, “Zlatko called her his little bird.” 

The venom in his voice made her believe the tales she was hearing. Feathers sprouted from her face, covering much of her features. She brushed a few aside slightly, despite the wince, and realized they were actually growing from her face, not just implanted. 

“He’s changed something fundamental about her processor.” She mused to herself, “Tricked it into spasming.” 

The man was watching her closely as she led the android over to a table, letting her lie down. She positioned herself at the top of her head, gingerly feeling for the buttons that would open the top of her skull. The androids arm shot out and she gripped onto her comrades hand, something like a whimper escaping. 

“It’s all right.” Harper began, though her hands continued to move, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

The other android was quick to grip the womans hand, eyeing Harper wearily. The top of the skull opened with a hiss and the processor was laid bare. Harper connected it to her laptop and went through the immediate coding, trying to find the bits that had been switched. Zlatko had been kind enough to mark them in a different color, perhaps for later reference, and she went to work rewriting them to normalcy.

“There.” She unplugged her laptop and let the top of her skull go back into place, “The feathers should fall out over the next couple of days and then they shouldn’t grow back after that. Once they’re gone we’ll see if there’s anything else that needs to be done.”

The woman sat up, shaking, but nodded her head to acknowledge she’d understood. As if on cue, a few feathers fell to the ground as she stood, sinking down in the seat near the table. The man took her place, lying back and staring up at the ceiling. 

“Changes will have to be incremental.” She explained, running a probe over the exposed metal, “I can rewrite some of the codes for you, put you back in control of your appearance. Eventually, if you want, we can replace the eyes and put whatever you choose in place. Totally up to you.”

The android nodded as she went through a similar process, rewriting the codes Zlatko had erased or distorted. When she was done, she ran a probe over the exposed biocomponents and then rubbed a thin layer of protecting gel over them for the time being. 

“You’re welcome to stay here for the night.” She offered, already guessing their response 

“No, we’ll head back to the church.” The man stood and lifted a hood over his head, “But…thank you.” 

She walked them both to the door, opening it and checking outside before she let them leave. The woman turned back suddenly, gripping her in a tight, instant hug. Harper froze in her arms and then she pulled away, pulling her up hood and stepping out into the rain. The man nodded and she watched them until they made it to the corner, turning and disappearing. 

By the time she made it upstairs, she was exhausted. Connor was sitting up in a chair by the bed, the tv turned on quietly in front of him. She sighed, closing the bedroom door behind her, and slipping into bed. 

“Can I get you anything?” Connor turned off the tv, sitting down on the side of the bed and looking down at her 

“No, I’m fine.” She yawned and then switched off the light beside the bed, plunging them in darkness

She could barely make out the shape of him in the blackness, though his LED flashed yellow once, turning over on itself. After a moment she scooted over, patting the empty side of the bed. He dragged off his shoes and then slid beneath the covers, staring up at the ceiling. For a moment they stayed there, silently, about a foot between them. 

“Harper?” Connor asked, his LED yellow again 

“Yeah?”

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” He whispered

She closed her eyes, letting her face warm in the dark. Connor groped to the side until he brushed against her hand, gently lacing their fingers. For a moment, things were peaceful, and she was so thankful he was there. 

“Harper?”

“Yeah?” She asked again, her eyes opening 

“Your heart rate has doubled since you laid down.” He replied, “Are you all right?” 

She couldn’t tell if he was teasing her but she closed her eyes again. 

“Go to sleep, Connor.”

“Yes, Harper.”


End file.
